• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.181-191
• /
• 2021

The present study addresses isolation, optimization, partial purification, and characterization of a haloalkaline serine protease from a newly isolated haloarchaeal strain isolated from Wadi El Natrun in Egypt. We expected that a two-step sequential statistical approach (one variable at a time, followed by response surface methodology) might maximize the production of the haloalkaline serine protease. The enzyme was partially purified using Hiprep 16/60 sephacryl S-100 HR gel filtration column. Molecular identification revealed the newly isolated haloarchaeon to be Natrialba hulunbeirensis strain WNHS14. Among several tested physicochemical determinants, casamino acids, KCl, and NaCl showed the most significant effects on enzyme production as determined from results of the One-Variable-At-A-time (OVAT) study. The BoxBehnken design localized the optimal levels of the three key determinants; casamino acids, KCl, and NaCl to be 0.5% (w/v), 0.02% (w/v), and 15% (w/v), respectively, obtaining 62.9 U/ml as the maximal amount of protease produced after treatment at 40℃, and pH 9 for 9 days with 6-fold enhancement in yield. The enzyme was partially purified after size exclusion chromatography with specific activity, purification fold, and yield of 1282.63 U/mg, 8.9, and 23%, respectively. The enzyme showed its maximal activity at pH, temperature, and NaCl concentration optima of 10, 75℃, and 2 M, respectively. Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF, 5 mM) completely inhibited enzyme activity.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.175-189
• /
• 2013

A membrane bioreactor (MBR) with sludge retention time (SRT) of 300 days was maintained for over 2 years. Polypropylene microfiltration (MF) membrane with pore size of 0.2 ${\mu}m$ was used in the MBR system. The fouling behaviors of various sludge fractions from the MBR were studied and sub-divided resistances were analyzed. It was observed that $R_{cp}$ was a dominant resistance during the filtration of activated sludge, contributing 63.0% and 59.6% to the total resistance for MBR and sequential batch reactor (SBR) respectively. On the other hand, $R_c$ played the significant role during the filtration of supernatant and solutes, varying between 54.54% and 67.18%. Compared with $R_{cp}$ and $R_c$, $R_{if}$ was negligible, and $R_m$ values remained constant at $0.20{\times}10^{12}m^{-1}$. Furthermore, resistances of all sludge fractions increased linearly with rising mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration and growing trans-membrane pressure (TMP), while the relationship was inversed between fraction resistances and cross flow velocity (CFV). Among all fractions of activated sludge, suspended solid was the main contributor to the total resistance. A compact cake layer was clearly observed according to the field emission scanning electro microscopy (FE-SEM) images.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
• /
• v.5 no.4
• /
• pp.13-17
• /
• 2019

Amiodarone hydrochloride is an antiarrhythmic agent which has low aqueous solubility and presents bioavailability problem. These properties are a challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. Inclusion of lipophilic compound in the hydrophobic core of micelles, i.e. self-assembled structures based on surfactants in aqueous solution, is one way of increasing the solubility. Intravenous formulation of amiodarone hydrochloride with polysorbate 80 as a detergent and benzyl alcohol as a co-solvent is used in medical practice. This paper aimed to study the effect of polysorbate 80 and benzyl alcohol on the water solubility of amiodarone hydrochloride. Formation of mixed micelles consisting of nonionic surfactant polysorbate 80 and cationic amiodarone with chloride counterion was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. Benzyl alcohol was found to decrease the stability of the mixed micelles and lead to crystallization of amiodarone hydrochloride. The greatest amounts of crystals formed at 4℃ for 30 days in the model drug solutions with polysorbate 80 concentrations of 100.1 mg/mL and 97.9 mg/mL. A change of the polysorbate 80 concentration and avoidance the use of benzyl alcohol are recommended to improve the stability of the parenteral dosage form. These results can open new perspectives in the optimization of amiodarone intravenous formulations.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.3 no.4
• /
• pp.221-230
• /
• 2012

This study employed the modified fouling index (MFI) to determine the performance of a two-step recycling system - a membrane filtration integrated laminar flow water storage (LFWS) tank followed by an ion exchange process to reclaim ultrapure water (UPW) from the wastewater generated from semiconductor wafer backgrinding and sawing processes. The first step consisted of the utilization of either ultrafiltration (UF) or nanofiltration (NF) membranes to remove solids in the wastewater where the second step consisted of an ion exchanger to further purify the filtrate. The system was able to produce high purity water in a continuous operating mode. However, higher recycling cost could be incurred due to membrane fouling. The feed wastewater used for this study contained high concentration of fine particles with low organic and ionic contents, hence membrane fouling was mainly attributed to particulate deposition and cake formation. Based on the MFI results, a LFWS tank that was equipped with a turbulence reducer with a pair of auto-valves was developed and found effective in minimizing fouling by discharging concentrated wastewater prior to any membrane filtration. By comparing flux behaviors of the improved system with the conventional system, the former maintained a high flux than the latter at the end of the experiment.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.11-21
• /
• 2022

GaN (Gallium-Nitride) is a promising candidate material in various radio frequency applications due to its inherent properties including wide bandgap, high carrier concentration, and high electron mobility/saturation velocity. Notably, AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field effect transistor exhibits high operating voltage and high power-density/power at high frequency. In next-generation radar systems, GaN power transistors and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) are significant components of transmitting and receiving modules. In this paper, we introduce technological trends for C-/X-/Ku-band GaN MMICs including power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers and switch MMICs, focusing on the status of GaN MMIC fabrication technology and GaN foundry service. Additionally, we review the research for the localization of C-/X-/Ku-band GaN MMICs using in-house GaN transistor and MMIC fabrication technology. We also discuss the results of C-/X-/Ku-band GaN MMICs developed at Defense Materials and Components Convergence Research Department in ETRI.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.549-561
• /
• 2009

As it is known, laminated composite materials are increasingly used in many technological applications, and in some instance, cutouts must be made into laminated panels for practical reasons, changing the stress distribution. The present study deals with the determination of the stress concentration factor that holes of square shape cause in an orthotropic plate subjected to distributed in - plane loading. Square holes of rounded corners in a rectangular plate are considered, and the effect of different combinations of axial and tangential forces applied to its middle plane at the external edges, is studied. The mutually perpendicular axes, which define the principal axes of orthotropy, are assumed in many different directions referred to the sides of the plate. Numerical experiments by means of a finite element code is performed, evaluating the influence of the fiber orientation with respect to the edges of the plate and the characteristics of the orthotropic materials since such structures do not exhibit easily predictable behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.54 no.5
• /
• pp.523-532
• /
• 2010

The proposed method is simple, sensitive and specific Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCESI-MS/MS) method for the quantification of Entacapone (EA) in human plasma using Entacapone-d10 (EAD10) as an internal standard (IS). Chromatographic separation was performed on Zorbax SB-C18, $2.1{\times}50\;mm$, $5\;{\mu}m$ column, mobile phase composed of 10 mM Ammonium formate (pH 3.0): Acetonitrile (60:40 v/v), with a flow-rate of 0.7 mL/min, followed by Liquid-liquid extraction. EA and EAD10 were detected with proton adducts at m/z $306.1{\rightarrow}233.1$ and $316.3{\rightarrow}233.0$ in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) positive mode respectively. The method was validated over a linear concentration range of 1.00 - 2000.00 ng/mL with correlation coefficient ($r^2$) $\geq$ 0.9993. Intra and inter-day Precision within 3.60 to 7.30 and 4.20 to 5.50% and Accuracy within 97.30 to 104.20 and 98.30 to 105.80% proved for EA. This method is successfully applied in the bioequivalence study of healthy Indian human volunteers.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.21 no.8
• /
• pp.69-78
• /
• 2021

With technological development including digitization, movie demand and supply in digital online movie market are increasing. This study aims to explore demand concentration of the digital online movie market, which is characterized by product variety compared to cinemas. Major findings of the empirical analysis on the TV VOD data during the recent seven years(2013 ~ 2019) are as follows. First, the analysis on 1,137 titles reveals that movie demand of theatrical market is more concentrated than that of TV VOD. Second, absolute long tail index of TV VOD, measured by the download number of indie & artistic movies(niche product), is increasing as more such movies are released in the market. However, both relative long tail index, measured by the share of indie & artistic movie demand, and top-ranked movies' share do not show consistent increase or decrease trend. Third, regression analysis exhibits that the relationship between demand concentration and market size is insignificant for TV VOD market. This study might have usefulness in that it provides empirical evidence for the nature of the Korean digital online movie market.

• Advances in environmental research
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.245-260
• /
• 2013

Biosorption represents a technological innovation as well as a cost effective excellent remediation technology for cleaning up radionuclides from aqueous environment. In the present study, a bacteria strain FB12 with high adsorption rate of uranium ion was isolated from the vicinity of the nuclear power plant. It was tentatively identified as Bacillus sp.FB12 according to the 16S rDNA sequencing. Efforts were made to further improve the adsorption rate and genetic stability by UV irradiation and UV-LiCl cooperative mutagenesis. The improved strain named Bacillus sp.UV32 obtains excellent genetic stability and a high adsorption rate of 95.9%. The adsorption of uranium U (VI) by Bacillus sp.UV32 from aqueous solution was examined as a function of metal ion concentration, cell concentration, adsorption time, pH, temperature, and the presence of some foreign ions. The adsorption process of U (VI) was found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. The adsorption isotherm study indicated that it preferably followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The thermodynamic parameters values calculated clearly indicated that the adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic in nature. These properties show that Bacillus sp.UV32 has potential application in the removal of uranium (VI) from the radioactive wastewater.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.178-186
• /
• 2008

In this study, ionotropic gelation method was used for the preparation of ibuprofen-loaded calcium alginate (CALG) and ethylenediamine (EDA) treated calcium alginate (EDA-CALG) microspheres. The effect of EDA-treatment on drug entrapment efficiency, particle size, morphology, swelling behavior and in vitro release characteristics of the microspheres was investigated by varying its concentration from 0.5 to 2% (v/v). The reduction in drug entrapment efficiency by a maximum of 44.60% was noted for EDA-CALG microspheres compared to untreated CALG microspheres. The particle size and swelling index of EDA-CALG microspheres were reduced with increasing EDA concentration. All the microspheres were observed to retain their spherical shapes with rough surfaces. EDA-CALG microspheres prepared using 1% and 2% v/v EDA, released almost all of its content within 7 h in pH 6.8 phosphate buffer, however, CALG microspheres were found to release the same within 3 h. The intensity of melting endothermic peak of ibuprofen reduced significantly at lower drug load as experienced from DSC thermograms. The FT-IR spectrum of pure ibuprofen, ibuprofen-loaded CALG and EDA-CALG microspheres showed the characteristic band of C = O stretching vibration of ibuprofen. Hence, this study revealed that EDA can be employed for the preparation of ibuprofen-loaded CALG microspheres to retard the drug release to some extent.