• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.812-821
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• 2007

The ecosystems of certain abandoned mines contain arsenic-resistant bacteria capable of performing detoxification when an ars gene is present in the bacterial genome. The ars gene has already been isolated from Pseudomonas putida and identified as a member of the membrane transport regulatory deoxyribonucleic acid family. The arsenite-oxidizing bacterial strains isolated in the present study were found to grow in the presence of 66.7 mM sodium arsenate($V;\;Na_2HAsO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$), yet experienced inhibited growth when the sodium arsenite($III;\;NaAsO_2$) concentration was higher than 26 mM. Batch experiment results showed that Pseudomonas putida strain OS-5 completely oxidized 1 mM of As(III) to As(V) within 35 h. An arsB gene encoding a membrane transport regulatory protein was observed in arsenite-oxidizing Pseudomonas putida strain OS-5, whereas arsB, arsH, and arrA were detected in strain OS-19, arsD and arsB were isolated from strain RW-18, and arsR, arsD, and arsB were found in E. coli strain OS-80. The leader gene of arsR, -arsD, was observed in a weak acid position. Thus, for bacteria exposed to weak acidity, the ars system may cause changes to the ecosystems of As-contaminated mines. Accordingly, the present results suggest that arsR, arsD, arsAB, arsA, arsB, arsC, arsH, arrA, arrB, aoxA, aoxB, aoxC, aoxD, aroA, and aroB may be useful for arsenite-oxidizing bacteria in abandoned arsenic-contaminated mines.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.657-667
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• 2003

Deep-drilled core sampling and high-resolution seismic survey were carried out to identify a Holocene-late Pleistocene boundary in Gyeonggi Bay, western coast of Korea. Analysis of core sections revealed the existence of an oxidized and semi-consolidated sediment layer, Iying immediately below a Holocene horizon (Unit I) and being developed at the top of a late Pleistocene deposit (Unit II). The oxidized sedimentary layer (uppermost part of Unit II) is characterized by semi-consolidated, yellowish sediments showing signs of desiccation and alteration such as high N value, low water content, periglacial cryogenic structure, depletion of smectite, and high geochemical weathering index (Ba/Sr ratio). This feature, together with radiocarbon ages, suggests that the layer has formed as a result of prolonged subaerial exposure of Unit II sediments during the late Wisconsin sea-level lowstand, producing a regional unconformity. Such unconformitic-bounding surface corresponds to a prominent near-surface reflector (R), which is observed in seismic profiles obtained across the drilled-core sections in the study area. Consequently, the buried oxidized-sedimentary layer associated with the seismic reflector possibly plays a key horizon for the understanding of late Quaternary environmental changes as well as evidence of the emergence of the Yellow Sea shelf during the late Wisconsin sea-level lowstand.

• Magazine of the Korea Institute for Structural Maintenance and Inspection
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.10-17
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• 2013

• Wind and Structures
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.415-432
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• 2017

The nonlinear aerodynamic instability of a tensioned plane orthotropic membrane structure is theoretically investigated in this paper. The interaction governing equation of wind-structure coupling is established by the Von $K\acute{a}rm\acute{a}n's$ large amplitude theory and the D'Alembert's principle. The aerodynamic force is determined by the potential flow theory of fluid mechanics and the thin airfoil theory of aerodynamics. Then the interaction governing equation is transformed into a second order nonlinear differential equation with constant coefficients by the Bubnov-Galerkin method. The critical wind velocity is obtained by judging the stability of the second order nonlinear differential equation. From the analysis of examples, we can conclude that it's of great significance to consider the orthotropy and geometrical nonlinearity to prevent the aerodynamic instability of plane membrane structures; we should comprehensively consider the effects of various factors on the design of plane membrane structures; and the formula of critical wind velocity obtained in this paper provides a more accurate theoretical solution for the aerodynamic stability of the plane membrane structures than the previous studies.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2008

Organic forms of arsenic (As) were determined through fractionation procedure of soil organic matter (SOM) in soil, sediments and mine tailing samples from the Myungbong, Dongil, and Okdong mining areas of southern Korea. An alkaline extraction method was applied to soil samples followed by the fractionation procedures of SOM by the DAX-8 and XAD-4 resin adsorption method. Major fraction of organic As species (42% to 98%) was found in acid-soluble fraction, whereas minor fraction (0.1 % to 67.8%) was present in the humic-associated As. In acid-soluble fractions, the transphillic- and hydrophilic-associated As were dominant in addition to As binding with humic and fulvic SOM. Arsenic binding was the strongest between pH 6 to 8 and reduced to about 70% at both low and high pH regions. The amount of both transphillic and hydrophillic associated As was less changed than humic and fulvic-associated As, in both low and high pH regions. This apparently indicates that As has stronger affinity towards hydrophillic rather than hydrophobic organics. From the experimental observation of As-binding SOM in natural soil, the ligand exchange model may be a feasible explanation of transphillic and hydrophillic affinity of As.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 2015

Plastic wastes, particularly polyethylene terephthalate (PET) generated from used bottled water constitute a worldwide environmental issue. Reusing the PET waste for geotechnical applications not only reduces environmental burdens of handling the waste, but also improves inherent engineering properties of soil. This paper investigated factors affecting shear strength improvement of PET-mixed residual soil. Four variables were considered: (i) plastic content; (ii) plastic slenderness ratio; (iii) plastic size; and (iv) soil particle size. A series of unconfined compression tests were performed to determine the optimum configurations for promoting the shear strength improvement. The results showed that the optimum slenderness ratio and PET content for shear strength improvement were 1:3 and 1.5%, respectively. Large PET pieces (i.e., $1.0cm^2$) were favorable for fine-grained residual soil, while small PET pieces (i.e., $0.5cm^2$) were favorable for coarse-grained residual soil. Higher shear strength improvement was obtained for PET-mixed coarse-grained residual soil (148%) than fine-grained residual soils (117%). The orientation of plastic pieces in soil and frictional resistance developed between soil particles and PET surface are two important factors affecting the shear strength performance of PET-mixed soil.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.265-272
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• 2004

This study was conducted to investigate the community structure and distributional pattern of meiobenthos in the deep-sea bottom of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone of northeastern Pacific during July 2001. Examination of sediment samples collected on the eight survey station showed that there were 10 different types of meiobenthos. The most abundant meiobenthic animals were nematodes in all stations. Sarcomastigophorans, benthic harpacticoids were next abundant meiobenthos. Vertical distribution of meiobenthic animals showed the highest individual numbers in the surface sediment layers of 0-1 cm depth and showed more steep decreasing trend as sediment gets deeper on the stations of high latitude located in $16-17^{\circ}N$. Horizontal distribution of meiobenthic animal in the study area within CCFZ showed high densities of meiobenthos at the stations had few manganese nodules on their sediment surface in the site of low latitude. For size distribution analyses showed that animals which fit into the sieve mesh size of 0.063 mm were abundant.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.140-143
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• 2004

The west coast of the Korean Peninsula is famous for its large tidal range (up to 9 m) and vast tidal flats. With comparison the sedimentary environments of open and close tidal flat using remote sensing, we select Kanghwa tidal flat and Hwang-Do tidal flat in Cheonsu Bay. Prior to surface sediment discrimination using remote sensing, sedimentary environments including intertidal OEM, hydraulic condition, and relationship between grain size and various tidal condition are investigated. Remote sensing has the potential to provide synoptic information of intertidal environments. The objectives of this study are: (i) to generate an intertidal digital elevation model (OEM) using the waterline method of Lansat TM/ETM+, (ii) to investigate the tidal channel distribution using texture analysis, and (iii) to analyze the relationship between surface grain size by using in-situ data and intertidal OEM and tidal channel density by using high-resolution satellite data such as IKONOS and Kompsat EOC. The results demonstrate that satellite remote sensing is an efficient and effective tool for a surface sediment discrimination and long term morphologic change estimation in tidal flats.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.330-333
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• 2004

국내 폐금속광산 일대에서 비소 및 중금속의 발암 및 비발암 위해성을 근거로 복원 기준치를 설정하였다. 폐금속광산일대의 주요한 노출 경로는 부지내 폐광석과 광미로부터 직접적인 오염물 흡입과 지하수를 통한 부지내 및 외 섭취의 경로로 구분된다. 지하수의 오염원은 폐광석과 광미 침출로부터의 오염과 갱구 유출로부터의 오염 및 지질매체 자체에 의한 오염이 설정되었다. 높은 오염 수준에 대해서 높은 오염성분감소비와 폐광산일대의 다양한 배경농도로부터 복원기준치를 설정 했을때, 토양 및 지하수의 복원기준치는 비소 위해도의 영향이 매우 큰 것으로 평가되었다. 비소의 높은 독성은 복원 기준치를 매우 낮게 형성했고, 위해도가 낮은 아연과 카드늄은 높게 설정되었다. 궁극적으로 오염성분 감소비에 따른 복원기준치 설정은 오염성분의 노출 경로 차단이 복원 목표치를 현실화시킬 수 있음을 보여주었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.72-75
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• 2004

The potential of electrokinetic (EK) technology has been successfully demonstrated for the remediation of heavy metal contaminated fine-grained soils through laboratory scale and field application studies. Arsenic contamination in soil is a serious problem affecting both site use and groundwater quality. The EK technology was evaluated for the removal of arsenic from two soil samples: kaolinite clay artificially contaminated with arsenic and arsenic-bearing tailing soil taken from the Myungbong (MB) mining area. The effect of cathodic electrolyte on the process was investigated using three different types of electrolyte: deionized water (DIW), potassium phosphate (KH$_2$PO$_4$) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The result of experiments on the kaolinite clay shows that the potassium phosphate was most effective in extracting arsenic, probably resulting from anion exchange of arsenic species by phosphate. On the contrary, the sodium hydroxide seemed to be most efficient in removing arsenic from the tailing soil, and it is explained by the fact that sodium hydroxide increased the soil pH and accelerated ionic migration of arsenic species through increase in desorption and dissolution of arsenic species into pore water.