• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.423-429
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• 2008

Currently, Ash-free clean coal producing process by solvent extraction is under development. The produced ash-free clean coal can be directly combusted in a gas turbine which results in substantial improvement of power generation efficiency. However, the clean coal produced by the solvent extraction still contain trace amount of alkali metal which may cause corrosion on turbine blades during the direct combustion. In present work ${\alpha},{\beta}$-metal (Zr and Ti) phosphates and H-Y zeolite were synthesized and their ion exchange characterizations were investigated for the application on alkali metal removal for clean coal production. $Na^+$ ion removal capacities of the metal phosphates and H-Y zeolite were measured and compared in both aqueous solution (100 ppmw, $Na^+$) and coal dissolved N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP, 12 ppmw $Na^+$) at elevated temperature. In aqueous solution, the ${\beta}$ form metal phosphates showed very high ion exchange capacities compared to ${\alpha}$ form. ${\beta}$ form metal phosphates also showed higher $Na^+$ removal capacities than H-Y zeolite. In ion exchange medium of NMP, all the ${\alpha}$ form metal phosphates showed over 90% of $Na^+$ ion removal efficiency in the temperature range of 200 to 400 while that of H-Y zeolite decreased as a half when the temperature was over 350. In addition, the regenerated metal phosphates by acid treatment showed no sign of degradation in $Na^+$ removal efficiency. Among the metal phosphates used, $Zr_{0.75}Ti_{0.25}(HPO_4)_2$ showed the best performance in $Na^+$ removal and is expected to be the most suitable inorganic ion exchanger for the alkali metal removal process.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.599-606
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• 2017

The effects of microbubble-oxygen physicochemical method for the removal of organic pollutants, nitrogen, and phosphorus contained in animal manure were investigated using a laboratory scale single reactor. The characteristics of used livestock manure were $36,894{\pm}5,024mg\;TCOD/L$, $22,031{\pm}2,018mg\;SCOD/L$, $4,150{\pm}35mg\;NH_4-N/L$, and $659{\pm}113mg\;PO_4-P/L$. It was confirmed that the amount of organic pollutants, nitrogen, and phosphorus removal was increased by the use of oxygen rather than air as the gas supplied with the microbubble, and by input of larger oxygen amount. When the oxygen was fed with 600 mL flow rate per minute, TCOD and phosphorus removal were 2.5 times and 5.6 times higher than those of air supplied. As the microbubble-oxygen reaction time was longer, the removal rate of nutrients increased gradually. The removal rates of ammonium and phosphorus reach to $41.03{\pm}0.20%$ and $65.49{\pm}1.39%$, respectively, after 24 hours. When the coagulation treatment method was applied to increase phosphorus removal rate from the effluent of microbubble-oxygen treatment, the phosphorus was removed up to 92.7%. However, the removal rate of organic pollutants (TCOD) was as small as $28.7{\pm}0.2%$ within the first 6 hours, and then the negligible removal of TCOD was recorded. This study suggests that microbubble-oxygen can be applied not only livestock manure but also aeration tank of various wastewater treatment plant, which can reduce the load on the associated unit process and produce stable high-quality effluent.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.195-207
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• 2000

Organic and inorganic characteristics including bacterial cell number, enzyme activity, nutrients, and heavy metals have been monitored in twelve acrylic experimental tanks for two weeks to estimate and compare self-purification capacities in two Korean wet-land environments, tidal flat and rice field, which are possibly different with the environments in other countries because of their own climatic conditions. FW tanks, filled with rice field soils and fresh water, consist of FW1&2 (with paddy), FW3&4 (without paddy), and FW5&6 (newly reclaimed, without paddy). SW tanks, filled with tidal flat sediments and salt water, are SW1&2 (with anoxic silty mud), SW3&4 (anoxic mud), and SW5&6 (suboxic mud). Contaminated solution, which is formulated with the salts of Cu, Cd, As, Cr, Pb, Hg, and glucose+glutamic acid, was spiked into the supernatent waters in the tanks. Nitrate concentrations in supernatent waters as well as bacterial cell numbers and enzyme activities of soils in the FW tanks (except FW5&6) are clearly higher than those in the SW tanks. Phosphate concentrations in the SW1 tank increase highly with time compared to those in the other SW tanks. Removal rates of Cu, Cd, and As in supematent waters of the FW5&6 tanks are most slow in the FW tanks, while the rates in SW1&2 are most fast in the SW tanks. The rate for Pb in the SW1&2 tanks is most fast in the SW tanks, and the rate for Hg in the FW5&6 tanks is most slow in the FW tanks. Cr concentrations decrease generally with time in the FW tanks. In the SW tanks, however, the Cr concentrations decrease rapidly at first, then increase, and then remain nearly constant. These results imply that labile organic materials are depleted in the FW5&6 tanks compared to the FW1&2 and FW3&4 tanks. Removal of Cu, Cd, As from the supernatent waters as well as slow removal rates of the elements (including Hg) are likely due to the combining of the elements with organic ligands on the suspended particles and subsequent removal to the bottom sediments. Fast removal rates of the metal ions (Cu, Cd, As) and rapid increase of phosphate concentrations in the SW1&2 tanks are possibly due to the relatively porous anoxic sediments in the SW1&2 tanks compared to those in the SW3&4 tanks, efficient supply of phosphate and hydrogen sulfide ions in pore wates to the upper water body, complexing of the metal ions with the sulfide ions, and subsequent removal to the bottom sediments. Organic materials on the particles and sulfide ions from the pore waters are the major factors constraining the behaviors of organic/inorganic elements in the supernatent waters of the experimental tanks. This study needs more consideration on more diverse organic and inorganic elements and experimental conditions such as tidal action, temperature variation, activities of benthic animals, etc.

• Clean Technology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 1997

A new process has been developed for nitrate and other salts removals from polluted waters. Alumina cement and calcium oxide served as precipitating agents to remove nitrate with stirring at basic pH. Low content of alumina in the commercialized alumina cements resulted in a increasing in nitrate removal yield. It is found that the compositions of aluminium and calcium are the most important factors in successful nitrate insolubilization. In order to remove high concentration of nitrate in polluted water, multi-stage precipitation was found to be very effective. Sulfate, chloride, and phosphate ions as well as nitrate were also removed by the precipitated reaction. After precipitation, post-treatments including Na2CO3 addition and neutralization with acid alleviated the level of aluminium and calcium in the treated water.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2010

The areas for agricultural purposes in Korea are decreasing every year because of urbanization. However, it is still 17.6% of the total national boundary on 2008. Most of the rice paddy fields are located near the waterbodies which require lots of water during rainy season from May to September. Also lots of nitrate and phosphate chemical fertilizers are spread on the fields every year in order to supply the nutrients for vegetation. The excess nutrients is impairs the water quality of rivers and lakes when it is washed out from the fields. The Korean Ministry of Environment (MOE) adapted the new water quality improvement program, which is the Total Daily Maximum Load, to improve the water quality and to protect the aquaecosystems. The constructed wetland is one of the possible ways to treat the agricultural runoff. The constructed wetland on this study area was constructed by MOE in 2007 to evaluate the application of the constructed wetlands. Plant growth continues to increase during the summer until it reaches its highest biomass of 6,032 g/$m^2$ in August and September. More researches about sedimentation, vegetation, water balance, etc. were performed to evaluate the removal efficiency, to find the removal mechanisms and to make the guidelines for design and maintenance.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.727-733
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• 2009

Heat shock protein 70 kDa (hsp70), a molecular chaperone involved in folding of nascent proteins, has been studied for its ability to activate innate and specific immunity. High purity hsp70 preparation is generally required for immunization experiments, because endotoxins and other immunologically active contaminants may affect immune responses independently of hsp70. We have developed a novel modification of E. coli-expression medium that enabled a simple two-step production and purification method for endotoxin-free recombinant hsp70. During Ni-NTA-based affinity purification of hsp70, a contaminating protein from host E. coli cells, L-glutamine-n-fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (GFAT), was identified. By testing various compounds, supplementation of growth medium with a GFAT metabolite,N-acetylglucosamine, was found to reduce GFAT expression and increase the total hsp70 yield five times. The new protocol is based on column purification of His-tagged hsp70 protein produced by E. coli with the modified medium, followed by endotoxin removal by Triton X-114 extraction. This approach yielded hsp70 with high purity and minimal endotoxin contamination, making the final product acceptable for immunization experiments. In summary, a simple modification of growth medium allowed production of recombinant mouse hsp70 in high yield and purity, thus compatible with immunological studies. This protocol may be useful for production of other Histagged proteins expressed in E. coli.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.257-264
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• 2010

Purpose: Connective tissue reattachment to periodontally damaged root surfaces is one of the most important goals of periodontal therapy. The aim of this study was to develop a root conditioning agent that can demineralize and detoxify the infected root surface. Methods: Dentin slices obtained from human teeth were treated with a novel root planing agent for 2 minutes and then washed with phosphate-buffered saline. Smear layer removal and type I collagen exposure were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and type I collagen immunostaining, respectively. Cell attachment and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) removal demonstrated the efficiency of the root conditioning agent. Results: SEM revealed that the smear layer was entirely removed and the dentinal tubules were opened by the experimental gel. Type I collagen was exposed on the surfaces of the dentin slices treated by the experimental gel, which were compared with dentin treated with other root planing agents. Dentin slices treated with the experimental gel showed the highest number of attached fibroblasts and flattened cell morphology. The agar diffusion assay demonstrated that the experimental gel also has effective antimicrobial activity. Escherichia coli LPS were effectively removed from well plates by the experimental gel. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that this experimental gel is a useful tool for root conditioning of infected root surfaces and can also be applied for detoxification of ailing implant surface threads.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.37-44
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• 2008

In this study we developed the analytical methods for the determination of three neurotoxin; anatoxin-a, saxitoxin and neosaxitoxin using HPLC/FLD system and this analytical methods were applied to real sample; algae culture and algae extracts. For the HPLC/FLD analysis of anatoxin-a samples were concentrated on WCX(Weak Cation Exchanger) SPE and then anatoxin-a in concentrate was derivatized with NBD-F solution. Supernatant was injected on HPLC system. For the HPLC/FLD analysis of saxitoxin and neosaxitoxin samples were separated on the column and then derivatizied by post column reactor for fluorescen detection. For post column reaction of saxitoxin we feed two kinds of reaction solution; Oxidizing Reagent of which composition was periodic acid(7mM) in 50mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 9 and acidifying reagent of which Composition was 0.5M acetic acid. The LOD value for anatoxin-a, saxitoxin and neosaxitoxin in HPLC/FLD method was 24.3 ng. $35{\mu}g/L$, $27{\mu}g/L$ respectively. We determined the anatoxin-a content of lyophilized anabaena flos-aquae and $20{\mu}g/g$ d.w. of anatoxin-a was detected. We analyzed saxitoxin and neosaxitoxin in algae culture media and extracts of lypopyllized algal cell cultured and that of Deachung reservior. Saxitoxin and neosaxitoxin in real sample were below the limit of detection. Although there are various water treatment processes for removing neurotoxins were suggested no process give simultaneous and complete removal of neurotoxins. It was cocluded that nanofiltration which reject material by size can be a process for removal of neurotoxins.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.21-31
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• 1996

To assess the impact resulted from the slag dumping, we studied that the changes in the concentration of heavy metal were researched through the statistic analysis at 4 stations in Yongil bay, Korea from 1988 to 1995. And in order to clarify resulting from the changes in heavy metal concentration due to be leaked out from dumped slag, it was fulfilled experiments of the slag extraction. In the extracting experiment, Pb and As were only leaked out from slag aged during 10 days but all of heavy metals were not from it aged during 90 or 180 days. It was found that the concentrations of heavy metals in sea water of vincinity of slag dumping area were still remained in similar, comparing with it of control site(site 4) when they were by analysed statistic method, anova test and Mann-Whitney test. The slag recycling ratio of our country is lower than foreign country. While we need to apply a new process for phosphate treatment, foreign country already apply a slag to phosphorous removal. We suggest that slag dumping cannot putatively affected the changes in the concentration of heavy metal. And we thought that impact of heavy metal induced by slag dumping was not severe. So, it is necessary to utilize this process in phosphorous removal, like a foreign country.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.999-1010
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• 2021

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in the environment. They are highly toxigenic and carcinogenic. Probiotic bacteria isolated from fermented foods were tested to check their ability to degrade and/or detoxify PAHs. Five probiotic bacteria with distinct morphologies were isolated from a mixture of 26 fermented foods co-cultured with benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) containing Bushnell Haas minimal broth. Among them, B. velezensis (PMC10) significantly reduced the abundance of BaP in the broth. PMC10 completely degraded BaP presented at a lower concentration in broth culture. B. velezensis also showed a clear zone of degradation on a BaP-coated Bushnell Haas agar plate. Gene expression profiling showed significant increases of PAH ring-hydroxylating dioxygenases and 4-hydroxybenzoate 3-monooxygenase genes in B. velezensis in response to BaP treatment. In addtion, both live and heat-killed B. velezensis removed BaP and naphthalene (Nap) from phosphate buffer solution. Live B. velezensis did not show any cytotoxicity to macrophage or human dermal fibroblast cells. Live-cell and cell-free supernatant of B. velezensis showed potential anti-inflammatory effects. Cell-free supernatant and extract of B. velezensis also showed free radical scavenging effects. These results highlight the prospective ability of B. velezensis to biodegrade and remove toxic PAHs from the human body and suggest that the biodegradation of BaP might be regulated by ring-hydroxylating dioxygenase-initiated metabolic pathway.