• Carbon letters
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• v.21
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• pp.81-85
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• 2017

The objective of this study is the removal of chromium from tannery wastewater by electrosorption on carbon prepared from lignocellulosic natural residue "peach stones' thermally treated. The followed steps for obtaining coal in chronological order were: cleaning, drying, crushing and finally its carbonization at $900^{\circ}C$. The characterization of the carbon material resulted in properties comparable to those of many coals industrially manufactured. The study of the dynamic adsorption of chromium on the obtained material resulted in a low removal rate (33.7%) without applied potential. The application of negative potentials of -0.7 V and -1.4 increases the adsorption of chromium up to 90% and 96% respectively. Whereas a positive potential of +1.4V allows desorption of the contaminant of 138%.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1561-1569
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• 2019

Curcumin, the major bioactive constituent of turmeric, has been reported to have a wide range of pharmacological benefits; however, the low solubility in water has restricted its systemic bioavailability and therapeutic potential. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of turmeric fermentation on its curcumin content and anti-inflammatory activity by using several lactic acid bacteria. Fermentation with Lactobacillus fermentum significantly increased the curcumin content by 9.76% while showing no cytotoxicity in RAW 246.7 cells, as compared to the unfermented turmeric, regardless of the concentration of L. fermentum-fermented turmeric. The L. fermentum-fermented turmeric also promoted cell survival; a significantly higher number of viable cells in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cells were observed as compared to those treated with unfermented turmeric. It also displayed promising DPPH scavenging ($7.88{\pm}3.36%$) and anti-inflammatory activities by significantly reducing the nitrite level and suppressing the expression of the pro-apoptotic tumor necrosis factor-alpha and Toll-like receptor-4 in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Western blot analysis further revealed that the anti-inflammatory activity of the fermented turmeric was exerted through suppression of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase signal pathway, but not in unfermented turmeric. Taken together, the results suggested that fermentation with lactic acid bacteria increases the curcumin content of turmeric without increasing its cytotoxicity, while strengthening the specific pharmacological activity, thus, highlighting its potential application as a functional food ingredient.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2006

Changes in the soil physical property and the topographic condition derived from agricultural activities like as farming activities, land clearance and cutting down resulted in environmental and economic problems including the outflow of nutrient from farms and the water pollution. Several theories on the soil conservation have been developed and reviewed to protect soil erosion in the regions having a high risk of erosion. This study was done using the USLE model developed by Wischmeier and Smith (1978), and model for the slope length and steepness made by Desmet and Govers (1996), and Nearing (1997) to evaluate the potential of the soil erodibility. Therefore, several results were obtained as follows. First, factors affecting the soil erosion based on the USLE could be extracted to examine the erosion potential in farms. Soil erodibility (K), slope length (L), and slope steepness (S) were used as main factors in the USLE in consideration of the soil, not by the land use or land cover. Second, the soil erodibility increased in paddy soils where it is low in soil content, and the very fine sandy loam exists. Analysis of the slope length showed that the value of a flat ground was 1, and the maximum value was 9.17 appearing on the steep mountain. Soil erodibility showed positive relationship to a slope. Third, the potential soil erodibility index (PSEI) showed that it is high in the PSEI of the areas of steep upland and orchard on the slope of mountainous region around Dokjigol mountain, Dunji mountain, and Deummit mountain. And the PSEI in the same land cover was different depending on the slope rather than on the physical properties in soil. Forth, the analysis of land suitability in soil erosion explained that study area had 3,672.35ha showing the suitable land, 390.88ha for the proper land, and 216.54ha for the unsuitable land. For unsuitable land, 8.71ha and 6.29ha were shown in fallow uplands and single cropping uplands, respectively.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.555-561
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• 2007

To obtain low molecular weight water soluble chitosan (LMWSC) with various molecular weights, chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) with lactic acid was separated by using ultrafilteration technique and LMWSC with a free amine group was prepared by the novel salts-removal method. The characterization of LMWSC removed the lactic acid and degree of deacetylation (DDA) were identified by FT-IR and $^1H-NMR$ spectra. Polydispersity index (PDI) was $1.278{\sim}1.499$, which indicates a relatively molecular weight distribution. To identify the potential as a gene carrier, we confirmed the transfection efficiency of COS fractioned according to molecular weight successfully and the salt-removed LMWSC using 293T cell. Also, LMWSC derivatives prepared for improvement transfection efficiency were evaluated using Balb/C mice.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.66-72
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to develop novel nanoparticles based on polyion complex formation between low molecular weight water-soluble chitosan (LMWSC) and all-trans retinoic acid (atRA). LMWSC nanoparticles encapsulating atRA based on polyion complex were prepared by mixing of atRA into LMWSC aqueous solution using ultrasonication. In FTIR spectra, the carbonyl group of atRA at 1690 $cm^{-1}$ disappeared or decreased when ion complexes were formed between LMWSC and atRA. In ${1}^H$ NMR spectra, specific peaks of atRA disappeared when atRA-encapsulated LMWSC (RAC) nanoparticles were reconstituted into $D_{2}O$ while specific peaks both of atRA and LMWSC appeared in $D_{2}O$/DMSO (1/3, v/v) mixture. XRD patterns also showed that the crystal peaks of atRA were disappeared by encapsulation into LMWSC nanoparticles. LMWSC nanoparticles encapsulating atRA have spherical shapes with particle size below 200 nm. The mechanism of encapsulation of atRA into LMWSC nanoparticles was thought to be an ion complex formation between LMWSC and atRA. LMWSC nanoparticles showed high atRA loading efficiency over 90$\%$ (w/w). AtRA was continuously released from nanoparticles over 10 days. In in vitro cell cytotoxicity test, free atRA showed higher cytotoxic effect against CT 26 colon carcinoma cell line on 1 day. However, RAC nanoparticles showed similar cytotoxicity against CT 26 cells on 2 day. These results suggest the potential for the introduction of LMWSC nanoparticles into various biomedical fields such as drug delivery.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.30-37
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• 2024

As a promising method to address global water scarcity, sorbent-assisted water harvesting from air has shown great potential to deliver drinking water for inlands lacking traditional water sources. In this article, the recent studies of using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as sorbents to harvest atmospheric water will be introduced. Compared to the other sorbent materials such as zeolites or silica-based materials, MOFs have shown prospective properties such as the water isotherm inflection points as low as ~10%, which are suitable for harvesting water at dry regions. Due to this property, recently, MOFs have been extensively adopted to develop practical water harvesting devices that can harvest water. Since atmospheric water is accessible anywhere and anytime in the world, this technology is expected to open a new avenue in terms of securing safe water for the future.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.609-614
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• 2005

Gas hydrates are ice-l ike sol id compounds that are composed of water and natural gas. All common gas hydrates belong to the three crystal structures that are composed of five polyhedral cavities formed by hydrogen bonded water molecules and stable in specific high pressure and low temperature conditions. Gas hydrates contain large amounts of organic carbon and widely occur in deep oceans and permafrost regions, and they may therefore represent a potential energy resource in the future. United States and Japan perform the national R&D programs for the commercial production of gas hydrates in 2010's. The study on gas hydrates are also important for exploration and development of natural gas in the regions where gas hydrates are accumulated and could be formed. Although their global abundance is debated, they play an important role in global climate change since methane is a 50 times more effect ive greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Natural gas hydrates also form a possible natural hazard if rapidly dissociated and can cause slides and slumps and in the marine environment associated tsunamis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.459-462
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• 2004

This study assesses groundwater vulnerability to contaminants in 12 administrative districts of the city of Changwon, using DRASTIC technique. DRASTIC was originally applied to situations in which the contamination sources are at the ground surface, and the contaminants flow into the groundwater with infiltration of rainfall. However, groundwater contamination in urban areas can also be related to excessive pumping resulting in a lowering of the water level. The correlation coefficient between minimum DRASTIC indices and the degree of poor water quality for 10 districts is low as 0.40. The correlation coefficients between minimum DRASTIC indices and the groundwater discharge rate, and between minimum DRASTIC indices and well density per unit area are 0.70 and 0.87, respectively. Thus, to evaluate the potential of groundwater contamination in urban areas, it is necessary to consider other factors such as groundwater withdrawal rate and well density per unit area with ratings and weights as well as the existing six DRASTIC factors.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.67-75
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• 1998

The purpose of this study is to develop a system for treating industrial wastewater with high carbonaceous and nitrogenous materials. To investigate the potential of using this system, a number of experiments are conducted for about 7 months with the varieties of COD and $NH_3-N$ concentrations, and hydraulic retention time. In the system, 1,500mg/L of COD is remover over 95% in a retention time as low as 9 hours, and the $NH_3-N$ removal efficience is nearly 100% with 90mg/L of $NH_3-N$ in the influent. These results illustrate that the system can effectively be used to treat industrial wastewater containing high concentration of COD and $NH_3-N$.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.70-80
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• 2018

Natural organic matter (NOM) is among the most common pollutant in underground and surface waters. It comprises of humic substances which contains anionic macromolecules such as aliphatic and aromatic compounds of a wide range of molecular weights along with carboxylic, phenolic functional groups. Although the concentration of NOM in potable water usually lies in the range of 1-10 ppm. Conventional treatment technologies are facing challenge in removing NOM effectively. The main issues are concentrated to low efficiency, membrane fouling, and harmful by-product formation. Ion-exchangers can be considered as an efficient and economic pretreatment technology for the removal of NOM. It not only consumes less time for pretreatment but also resist formation of trihalomethanes (THMs), an unwanted harmful by-product. This article provides a comprehensive review of ion exchange processes for the removal of NOM.