• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.636-645
• /
• 2022

In this study, we investigated the adsorption characteristics of methyl orange (MO), an anionic dye, on ginkgo shell-based activated carbon (AC). For this purpose, ACs (GS-1, GS-2, and GS-4) with different textural properties were prepared using ginkgo shells and potassium hydroxide (KOH), a representative chemical activating agent. The correlation between the textural characteristics of AC prepared and the mixing ratio of KOH was investigated using nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The MO adsorption equilibrium experiment on the prepared ACs was conducted under different pH (pH 3~11) and temperature (298~318 K) conditions, and the results were investigated by Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips and temperature-dependent Sips equations. The feasibility of the MO adsorption treatment process of the prepared AC was also investigated using the dimensionless Langmuir separation factor. The heterogeneous adsorption properties of MO for the prepared AC examined using the adsorption energy distribution function (AED) were closely related to the system temperature and textural characteristics of AC. The kinetic results of the batch adsorption performed at different temperatures can be satisfactorily explained by the homogeneous surface diffusion model (HSDM), which takes into account the external mass transfer, intraparticle diffusion, and active site adsorption. The relationship between the activation energy value obtained by the Arrhenius plot and the adsorption energy distribution function value was also investigated. In addition, the adsorption process mechanism of MO on the prepared AC was evaluated using Biot number.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.34 no.7
• /
• pp.493-499
• /
• 2024

Antimicrobial peptides are antimicrobial substances inherent in animals and plants, with strong antibacterial activity even in small amounts and with various other functions such as antiviral and antioxidant actions. Plants can be grown with just water and sunlight, allowing for their mass production at low costs. However, transforming a chloroplast into one that produces antimicrobial peptides, rather than growing plants, increases the amount of protein expression and minimizes contamination of the ecosystem because gene transfer by pollen does not occur. In that context, using transgenic plant chloroplasts to produce recombinant proteins increases protein degradation and reduces the solubility of proteins. To solve this problem, we fused SUMO, a fusion protein, with a recombinant protein. We also used a 6xHis tag to purify the fusion protein. The antimicrobial peptide stomoxyn is an antibacterial substance found in stable flies. Stomoxyn has an α-helix structure and is amphiphilic, which allows it to dissolve bacterial cell membranes. In this study, we constructed a transformation vector to express stomoxyn in both plant chloroplasts and Escherichia coli and used this vector to confirm the expression of stomoxyn in E. coli. The expression of the protein was then confirmed in E. coli using a transformation vector. The expressed stomoxyn was purified by nickel column and SUMOase treatment, and its antibacterial activity was confirmed using an agar diffusion assay. The EGFP gene was used to ensure that the transformed vector was inserted into the chloroplast.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.52 no.4
• /
• pp.346-354
• /
• 2002

Background : Dyspnea and a limitation in exercise performance are important cause of disability in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD). A depleted nutritional state is a common problem in patients with a severe degree of chronic airflow limitation. This study was carried out to assess the factors determining the maximum exercise capacity in patients with COPD. Methods : The resting pulmonary function, nutritional status, and maximum exercise performance was assessed in 83 stable patients with moderate to severe COPD. The nutritional status was evaluated by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Maximum exercise performance was evaluated by maximum oxygen uptake($VO_2max$). Results : Among the 83 patients, 59% were characterized by nutritional depletion. In the depleted group, a significantly lower peak expiratory flow rate(p<0.05), Kco(p<0.01) and maximum inspiratory pressure(p<0.05), but a significantly higher airway resistance(p<0.05) was observed. The maximum oxygen uptake and the peak oxygen pulse were lower in the depleted group. The $VO_2max$ correlated with some of the measures of the body composition : fat-free mass(FFM), fat mass(FM), body mass index(BMI), intracellular water index(ICW index), and pulmonary function : forced vital capacity(FVC), forced inspiratory vital capacity(FIVC), diffusion capacity(DLCO) : or maximum respiratory pressure : maximum inspiratory pressure(PImax), maximum expiratory pressure(PEmax). Stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that the FFM, DLCO and FIVC accounted for 68.8% of the variation in the $VO_2max$. Conclusion : The depletion of the FFM is significant factor for predicting the maximum exercise performance in patients with moderate to severe COPD.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.39-46
• /
• 1982

A model of substrate removal by rotating discs has been developed for a better understanding of the process, and the performance of the system has been evaluated under steady and unsteady state. The model was constructed based upon mass transfer of the substrate from the bulk solution to the biofilm and a simultaneous removal of the substrate by the biomass. The model is composed of a few sets of differential equations representing mass balance within the elements of a liquid film and a biofilm, and in the bulk solution. Substrate removal efficiency of the process is largely dependent on a diffusion coefficient of the substrate within the biofilm and a maximum rate of substrate removal of the biomass. The efficiency is affected to a greater extent when the substrate concentration is low and the maximum substrate removal rate is high. The efficiency increases proportionally with increasing film depth when the biofilm is shallow, however, the rate of increase gradually decreases with an increase of the film depth. As the film reaches a limiting depth, the efficiency remains constant. Unlike the steady state, the effluent quality is affected by the tank volume under dynamic state. Increasing tank volume decreases peak concentration of the effluent under peak loading. Additional tank volume provides a buffer capacitya.gainst a peak loading and the holding tank behaves like an equalization tank.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.6 no.7
• /
• pp.742-751
• /
• 1996

Ti-48Al(at.%) specimens were coated with Al-21Ti-23Cr(at.%) film by RF magnetron sputtering. Ti-48Al specimen coated at 200, 0.8Pa and 573K showed the best oxidation resistance property in the isothermal oxidation test. Al-21Ti-23Cr film was amophous after depostion, but crystallized and fromed a protective ${Al}_{2}{O}_{3}$ layer on the surface during oxidation. Ti-48Al specimens coated at 573K have been sassessed by isothermal oxidation test for 100 hours at 1073K, 1173K and 1273K. The mass gain curves showed that parabolic stage continued at al tested temperature range in isothermal oxidation test, and the excellent oxidation resistance is attriutable to the formation of a protective ${Al}_{2}{O}_{3}$ layer on the surface of Al-21Ti-23Cr film. After oxidation test at 1273K, the matrix of Al-21Ti-23Cr film had transformed into TiAlCr phase due to the depletion of Al during oxidation and the diffusion of Ti from the substrate, and the extent of mass gain of the specimen increased compared with that of specimens tested at lower temperature.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.315-321
• /
• 2010

Malassezia furfur is an important causal factor for seborrheic dermatitis. Nowadays, the drugs available to treat this fungal infection are few. Several studies have documented the biological activity of essential oils. However, its antifungal properties are not completely understood, especially its anti-Malassezia activity. The aim of this study were to evaluate the effect of the plant essential oils on the growth of M. furfur using disk diffusion method and analyze by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) most active essential oils. In first screening, the 17 plant essential oils have possesses inhibitory activity against M. furfur at 2 mg/mL. Among the plant essential oils, oil of Citrus auranifoli was most active against M. furfur and its activity showed dose dependency. This anti-malassezial activity was high than that of itraconazole at 2 mg/mL. Oil of Citrus auranifolia also was phytochemically examined by GC-MS analysis, its main constituents were identified as limonene, ${\gamma}$-terpinene and terpinolene. It can be concluded that essential oils of Citrus auranifolia may have interesting applications to control fungal-derived diseases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.775-784
• /
• 2000

Nitrate dry deposition fluxes were directly measured using knife-leading-edge surrogate surface (KSS) covered with greased strips and a water surface sampler (WSS). The average gaseous flux ($8.3mg/m^2/day$) was much higher than the average particulate one ($3.0mg/m^2/day$). The best fit gas phase mass transfer coefficient (MTC) of $HNO_3$ was obtained by linear regression analysis between measured gaseous flux containing nitrogen compounds and measured ambient $HNO_3$ concentration. The result showed that the MTCs of $HNO_3$ were approximately two times higher than those of $SO_2$. Especially, during the ozone action day, measured gaseous fluxes containing nitrogen compounds were much higher than those ones calculated as the product of measured ambient $HNO_3$ concentration and gas phase MTC of $HNO_3$, which is calculated from MTC of $SO_2$ using Graham's diffusion law. This result indicated that other nitrogen compounds except $HNO_3$ contributed to gaseous flux containing nitrogen compounds into the water surface sampler. The theoretical calculations suggest the contributions of nitrous acid ($HNO_2$) and PAN to the gaseous dry deposition flux of nitrogen containing compounds to the WSS.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.197-211
• /
• 2004

Visibility impairment was known as an indicator of the increased air pollution. In many previous studies, it is known that both directly emitted fine particles mainly from vehicles and secondary aerosols from photochemical reactions could contribute to this visibility impairment in addition to the meteorological condition. Furthermore, the visibility showed different change patterns according to the geographical condition. In order to research into the influence of these factors on visibility, this study analyzed the visibility at 15:00, observed from 1990 to 2001 in Seoul, Ganghwa, Susan, Gwangju, Jeju. As a result, the visibility was increased in Seoul except the rainfall period, but in Susan, Gwangju, Jeju, it decreased with the relative humidity (RH). Especially, in Seoul, the number of low visibility days was larger than other sites and variations of the visibility were sensitive to the concentration of air pollutants, such as TSP, $NO_2$, $O_3$. The visibility impairment was mainly observed in meteorological condition of RH<50% and relatively stationary front. Therefore it is inferred that photochemical smog could lead to the low visibility in Seoul. On the other hands, in Ganghwa and Susan, when RH was 60~70%, the low visibility observed under the influence of the transports of air pollutants from nearby cities as well as humid air mass from coastal region. And in Jeju, sea fog and humid air mass caused the visibility impairment when the RH was larger than 80%. Finally, during the observational period, some cases of low visibility phenomena were simultaneously observed in the vast region including Seoul, Susan, Ganghwa. It not only includes the visibility aggravation by Asian Dust, but also could be caused by the movement and diffusion of flying dust or secondary aerosols. Moreover, the result shows that these phenomena could be mainly influenced by meteorological factors covering the wide regions.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.47 no.6
• /
• pp.732-750
• /
• 2019

Air drying was carried out on 15 Korean red pine logs to provide a prediction model of the moisture content (MC) change in the wood during drying. The final MC was 17.4% after 880 days since the beginning of air drying in the summer for 6 Korean red pine logs with 68.7% initial MC. The final MC was 16.0% after 760 days since the beginning of air drying in the winter for 9 Korean red pine logs with 35.8% initial MC. A regression model with R-squared of 0.925 was obtained as a result of multiple regression analyses with initial MC, top diameter, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed as independent variable and and MC change during air drying as dependent variable. The initial MC and top diameter, which is the characteristic of Korean red pine, have greater effect on the MC decrease during air drying compared to meteorological factors such as the temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Two-dimensional mass transfer analysis was performed to predict the MC distribution of Korean red pine logs during air drying. Two prediction models with different air drying days and different meteorological factors for the determination of the diffusion coefficient and surface emission coefficient were presented. The error between the different two methods ranged from 0.1 to 0.8% and the difference from the measured value ranged from 2.2 to 3.6%. By measuring the internal MC during air drying of Korean pine logs with various initial MC and diameter, and calculating the moisture transfer coefficient in wood for each meteorological condition, the error of the prediction model can be reduced.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.65-71
• /
• 2012

Oxygen is the final acceptor of electron transport from fat and carbohydrate oxidation, which is the rate-limiting factor for cellular ATP production. Under altitude hypoxia condition, energy reliance on anaerobic glycolysis increases to compensate for the shortfall caused by reduced fatty acid oxidation [1]. Therefore, training at altitude is expected to strongly influence the human metabolic system, and has the potential to be designed as a non-pharmacological or recreational intervention regimen for correcting diabetes or related metabolic problems. However, most people cannot accommodate high altitude exposure above 4500 M due to acute mountain sickness (AMS) and insulin resistance corresponding to a increased levels of the stress hormones cortisol and catecholamine [2]. Thus, less stringent conditions were evaluated to determine whether glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity could be improved by moderate altitude exposure (below 4000 M). In 2003, we and another group in Austria reported that short-term moderate altitude exposure plus endurance-related physical activity significantly improves glucose tolerance (not fasting glucose) in humans [3,4], which is associated with the improvement in the whole-body insulin sensitivity [5]. With daily hiking at an altitude of approximately 4000 M, glucose tolerance can still be improved but fasting glucose was slightly elevated. Individuals vary widely in their response to altitude challenge. In particular, the improvement in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity by prolonged altitude hiking activity is not apparent in those individuals with low baseline DHEA-S concentration [6]. In addition, hematopoietic adaptation against altitude hypoxia can also be impaired in individuals with low DHEA-S. In short-lived mammals like rodents, the DHEA-S level is barely detectable since their adrenal cortex does not appear to produce this steroid [7]. In this model, exercise training recovery under prolonged hypoxia exposure (14-15% oxygen, 8 h per day for 6 weeks) can still improve insulin sensitivity, secondary to an effective suppression of adiposity [8]. Genetically obese rats exhibit hyperinsulinemia (sign of insulin resistance) with up-regulated baseline levels of AMP-activated protein kinase and AS160 phosphorylation in skeletal muscle compared to lean rats. After prolonged hypoxia training, this abnormality can be reversed concomitant with an approximately 50% increase in GLUT4 protein expression. Additionally, prolonged moderate hypoxia training results in decreased diffusion distance of muscle fiber (reduced cross-sectional area) without affecting muscle weight. In humans, moderate hypoxia increases postprandial blood distribution towards skeletal muscle during a training recovery. This physiological response plays a role in the redistribution of fuel storage among important energy storage sites and may explain its potent effect on changing body composition. Conclusion: Prolonged moderate altitude hypoxia (rangingfrom 1700 to 2400 M), but not acute high attitude hypoxia (above 4000 M), can effectively improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance for humans and antagonizes the obese phenotype in animals with a genetic defect. In humans, the magnitude of the improvementvaries widely and correlates with baseline plasma DHEA-S levels. Compared to training at sea-level, training at altitude effectively decreases fat mass in parallel with increased muscle mass. This change may be associated with increased perfusion of insulin and fuel towards skeletal muscle that favors muscle competing postprandial fuel in circulation against adipose tissues.