• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.1753-1758
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• 2012

A novel, efficient and controlled protocol for the synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of $Au@TiO_2$ nanocomposite is developed. $TiO_2$ (P25) was pretreated by employing UV light (${\lambda}$ = 254 nm) and the pretreated $TiO_2$ was uniformly decorated by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in presence of sodium citrate and UV light. UV pretreatment makes the $TiO_2$ activated, as electrons were accumulated within the $TiO_2$ in the conduction band. These accumulated electrons facilitate the formation of AuNPs which were of very small size (2-5 nm), similar morphology and uniformly deposited at $TiO_2$ surface. It leads to formation of stable and crystalline $Au@TiO_2$ nanocomposites. The rapidity (13 hours), monodispersity, smaller nanocomposites and easy separation make this protocol highly significant in the area of nanocomposites syntheses. As-synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by TEM, HRTEM, TEM-EDX, SAED, XRD, UV-visible spectrophotometer and zeta potential. Dye degradation experiments of methyl orange show that type I ($Au@TiO_2$ nanocomposites in which $TiO_2$ was pretreated with UV light) has enhanced photocatalytic activity in comparison to type II ($Au@TiO_2$ nanocomposites in which $TiO_2$ was not pretreated with UV light) and $TiO_2$ (P25). This shows that pretreatment of $TiO_2$ provides type I a better catalytic activity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.415-418
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• 2010

Highly ordered mesoporous silver material was successfully synthesized from a mesoporous silica template (KIT-6) with 3-D channel structure using the nano-replication method. The effects of $H_2$ or $O_2$ pretreatments on the catalytic performance of the mesoporous silver were investigated using a temperature programmed CO oxidation technique in a fixed bed reactor. The mesoporous silver material that was pretreated with $H_2$ exhibited an excellent catalytic activity compared to the as-prepared and $O_2$-pretreated catalysts. Moreover, this present mesoporous silver material showed good catalytic stability. For the CO oxidation, the apparent activation energy of the $H_2$-pretreated mesoporous silver catalyst was $61{\pm}0.5\;kJ\;mol^{-1}$, which was also much lower than the as-prepared ($132{\pm}1.5\;kJ\;mol^{-1}$) and $O_2$-pretreated ($124{\pm}1.4\;kJ\;mol^{-1}$) catalysts.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to measure the changes of regional cerebral blood flow(rCBF) and blood pressure(BP) in rats, following the intravenous injection of Nelumbo nucifera water extract. The measurement was continually monitored by laser-doppler flowmeter and pressure transducer in anesthetized adult Sprague-Dawley rats for about 2 to 2 and half hours through the data acquisition system composed of MacLab and Macintosh computer. The results of this experiment were as follows. Nelumbo nucifera significantly increased the changes of rCBF in rats. The rCBF of Nelumbo nucifera was not changed by pretreated propranolol, atropine, L-NNA and indomethacin. But the rCBF of Nelumbo nucifera was decreased by pretreated methylene blue. Nelumbo nucifera decreased the BP significantly. The BP of Nelumbo nucifera was not changed by pretreated propranolol, atropine, L-NNA and indomethacin. But the BP of Nelumbo nucifera was decreased by pretreated methylene blue. These results indicated that Nelumbo nucifera might increase the rCBF and decrease the BP which related to guanylyl cyclase activity.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.637-644
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• 2018

The air permeability of yellow poplar log cross section before and after organosolv pretreatment was investigated, and the moisture absorption of control and organosolv pretreated rectangular parallelepiped specimens was investigated in this study. It was revealed that the diameters of through pores were enlarged and the number of bigger pore was increased by the organosolv pretreatment. The air permeabilities of the cross sections of yellow poplar log were changed from 1.61 darcy to 23.30 darcy, but their weights were reduced by 5 percent. The equilibrium moisture content of control wood specimen at the exposed relative humidity were 5.9 % at 32 %, 9.7 % at 58 %, 14.8 % at 80.5 %, 19.7 % at 90 %, 25.7 % at 95 % and 29.9 % at 100%. The equilibrium moisture content of the specimens pretreated with the parameter of sulfuric acid catalyst of 0.5 % (w/w) were 19.5 % at 32 %, 29.3 % at 58 %, 39.6 % at 80.5 %, 59 % at 90 %, 111.3 % at 95 % and 111.3 % at 100 %, while those pretreated with the parameter of sulfuric acid catalyst of 1.0 % (w/w) were 17.4 % at 32 %, 23.9 % at 58 %, 27.7 % at 80.5 %, 40.6 % at 90 %, 68.8 % at 95 % and 110.0 % at 100 %. The moisture absorption of organosolv pretreated rectangular parallelepiped specimens was higher than that of control specimen.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.1333-1340
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• 2016

The main objective of this study was to investigate whether Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) ameliorated the effects of Citrobactor rodentium infection in Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) knockout (KO) and TLR4 KO mice, as well as in wild-type C57BL/6 (B6) mice. TLR2 KO, TLR4 KO, and B6 mice were divided into three groups per each strain. Each group had an uninfected control group (n = 5), C. rodentium-infected group (n = 8), and LGG-pretreated C. rodentium-infected group (n = 8). The survival rate of B6 mice infected with C. rodentium was higher when pretreated with LGG. Pretreatment with LGG ameliorated C. rodentium-induced mucosal hyperplasia in B6 and TLR4 KO mice. However, in C-rodentium-infected TLR2 KO mice, mucosal hyperplasia persisted, regardless of pretreatment with LGG. In addition, LGG-pretreated B6 and TLR4 KO mice showed a decrease in spleen weight and downregulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interferon gamma, and monocyte chemotactic protein 1 mRNA expression compared with the non-pretreated group. In contrast, such changes were not observed in TLR2 KO mice, regardless of pretreatment with LGG. From the above results, we conclude that pretreatment with LGG ameliorates C. rodentium-induced colitis in B6 and TLR4 KO mice, but not in TLR2 KO mice. Therefore, LGG protects mice from C. rodentium-induced colitis in a TLR2-dependent manner.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2011

In this study, dilute acid pretreatment of $Liriodendron$ $tulipifera$ was performed for enzymatic hydrolysis. As the pretreatment temperature was increased, enzymatic hydrolysis and enzyme adsorption yield also increased. The highest enzymatic hydrolysis yield was 57% (g/g) and enzyme adsorption was 44% (g/g). Enzymatic hydrolysis yield was determined with weight loss of pretreated biomass by enzyme, and enzyme adsorption was a percentage of enzyme weight attaching on pretreated biomass compared with input enzyme weight. When $L.$ $tulipifera$ was pretreated with 1% sulfuric acid at $160^{\circ}C$ for 5 min., hemicellulose was significantly removed in pretreatment, but the lignin contents were constant. Other changes in surface morphology were detected on biomass pretreated at $160^{\circ}C$ by a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). A large number of spherical shapes known as lignin droplets were observed over the entire biomass surface after pretreatment. Hemicellulose removal and morphological changes improved enzyme accessibility to cellulose by increasing cellulose exposure to enzyme. It is thus evidence that enzyme adsorption is a significant factor to understand pretreatment effectiveness.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.80-86
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• 2003

To evaluate the effect of cyclohexane(CH) treatment on the serum levels of glutathion S-transferase(GST) activity in liver damaged animals, damaged liver was induced with pretreatment of 50% $CCl_4$ dissolved in olive oil (0.1 m1/100g body weight) intraperitoneally 17 times every other day. To $CCl_4$-treated rats, CH (1.56 g/kg body weight, i.p) was injected once and then the animals were sacrificed at 4 hours after injection of CH. The $CCl_4$-treated animals were identified as severe liver damage on the basis of liver functional findings, 1,e, increased serum levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT), alkaline phosphate(ALP) and xanthine oxidase(XO) activities. On the other hand, $CCl_4$-treated animals injected with CH once($CCl_4$-pretreated animals) showed more decreased serum levels of ALT and XO, and more increased those of ALP rather than $CCl_4$-treated animals. In case of comparing the GST with ALT activity in liver, both $CCl_4$-treated and pretreated animals showed similar changing pattern of enzyme actvity. Especially $CCl_4$-pretreated animals showed significantly increased serum level of GST actvity compared with the $CCl_4$-treated those, whereas those of ALT showed reversed tendency. In aspects of GST enzyme kinetics, $CCl_4$-pretreated animals showed higher Vmax of liver GST enzyme than $CCl_4$-treated animals. In conclusion, injection of CH to the liver damaged rats led to enhanced liver damage and more increased activity of serum GST which may be chiefly caused by the enzyme induction.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.283-291
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• 2005

This study was penonned to provide basic data that predict the usefulness of Gastrodiae rhizoma as food materials for oriental medicinal cuisine(YakSun). We measured the changes of regional cerebral blood flow(rCBF) and blood pressure(BP) in rats, following the intravenous injection of Gastrodiae rhizoma water extract The measurement was continually monitored by laser-doppler flowmeter and pressure transducer in anesthetized adult Sprague-Dawley rats for about two to two and half hours through the data acquisition system composed of MacLab and Macintosh computer. The results of this experiment were as follows. Gastrodiae rhizoma increased the changes of rCBF in rats significantly. The rCBF of Gastrodiae rhizoma did not change by pretreated propranolol, atropin, methylene blue and indomethacin. But the rCBF of Gastrodiae rhizoma was increased by pretreated L-NNA. Gastrodiae rhizaoma decreased the changes of BP significantly. The BP of Gastrodiae rhizoma did not change by pretreated propranolol, atropin, methylene blue and indomethacin. But the BP of Gastrodiae rhizoma was decreased by pretreated L-NNA. These results indicated that Gastrodiae rhizoma might increase the rCBF and the BP which related to nitric oxide synthesis. Also these results indicate that Gastrodiae rhizoma can be used as a safe and clinically applicable to diet therapy of cerebral cardiovascular disease.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2014

In order to investigate the effective pretreatment methods in WAS(=waste activated sludge) solubilization, the values of SCOD yield per unit SS (SCOD/gSS.hr) were compared. After the hydrodynamic cavitation with pH of 12.5, SCOD increased to 7800 mg/L, SS decreased to 45 % and the solubilization rate was 29 %. Combination of alkality (pH 12.5) and the cavitation seems to be the optimal condition for sludge solubilization. After the cavitational pretreatment, efficiencies of anaerobic digestion of the unfiltered sludge(the control), raw sludge and pretreated sludge were evaluated with BMP(=biochemical methane potential) tests. For evaluation of the biodegradability characteristics of pretreated sewage sludge, the methane production has been measured for 6 months. The methane production of pretreated sludge increased 1.4 times than that of untreated sludge. The result indicates that the cavitationally pretreated sludge was a better biodegradability substrate in anaerobic condition compared to raw sludge. It is obvious that cavitational pretreatment could enhance not only solubilization but also biodegradability of WAS. In conclusion, cavitational pretreatment of WAS to convert the particulate into soluble portion was shown to be effective in enhancing the digestibility of the WAS.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.191-201
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• 2017

Background: Limited availability of corn stover due to the competing uses (organic manure, animal feed, bio-materials, and bioenergy) presents a major concern for its future in the bio-economy. Furthermore, biomass research has exhibited different results due to the differences in the supply of enzymes and dissimilar analytical methods. The effect of the two leading pretreatment techniques (dilute acid and alkaline) on glucose yield from three corn stover fractions (cob, stalk, and leaf) sourced from a single harvest in Uganda were studied at temperatures 100, 120, 140, and $160^{\circ}C$ over reaction times of 5, 10, 30, and 60 min. Results: From this study, the highest glucose concentrations obtained from the dilute acid (DA) pretreated cobs, stalks, and leaves were 18.4 g/L (66.8% glucose yield), 16.2 g/L (64.1% glucose yield), and 11.0 g/L (49.5% glucose yield), respectively. The optimal pretreatment settings needed to obtain these yields from the DA pretreated samples were at a temperature of $160^{\circ}C$ over an incubation time of 30 min. The highest glucose concentrations obtained from the alkaline (AL) pretreated cobs, stalks, and leaves were 24.7 g/L (81.73% glucose yield), 21.3 g/L (81.23% glucose yield), and 15.0 g/L (51.92% glucose yield), respectively. To be able to achieve these yields, the optimal pretreatment settings for the cobs and stalks were $140^{\circ}C$ and for a retention time of 30 min, while the leaves require optimal conditions of $140^{\circ}C$ and for a retention time of 60 min. Conclusions: The study recommends that the leaves could be left on the field during harvesting since the recovery of glucose from the pretreated cobs and stalks is higher.