• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.341-345
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• 1998

Soil solutions were collected by zero-tension lysimeters at Kwangju, Kyunggi Province to estimate differences in ion concentration among species and horizons. Zero-tension lysimeters were installed in O, A, and B horizons in Larix leptolepis, Pinus koraiensis, and Quercus mongolica stands. Soil solution samples were collected from September 1996 through August 1998 and analyzed for $K^+$, $NA^+$, $NH_4^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Al^{3+}$, $Cl^-$, $SO_4^{2-}$, $NO_3^-$, and $PO_4^{3-}$. The experimental site had high nitrogen loading from the atmosphere, and $NO_3^-$ was positively correlated with $K^+$ and $Mg^{2+}$. However, $NO_3^-$ and $NH_4^+$ showed a positive correlation only in the O horizon of Q. mongolica stand. Mg^(2+) deficit in the soil was predicted owing to the positive relationship of $Mg^{2+}$ with $NO_3^-$. Concentrations of $K^+$ and $Ca^{2+}$in soil solution were estimated higher in L. leptolepis than in other stands because of high leaching from the plant. Concentration of $Al^{3+}$ in soil solution was negatively correlated with soil solution pH. Mean soil solution pH of A and B horizons in P. koraiensis was lower than 4.7, however the $Al^{3+}$ concentration was lower than the toxic level to plants.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.323-327
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• 2005

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is a representative compound of chlorophenol derivatives which are especially toxic and potentially carcinogenic compounds in the priority pollutant list of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, USA). The aim of this study was to investigate an analysis method of PCP in infinitesimal quantity retained in paper. PCP in paper was pretreated by solid phase extraction (SPE) in a phenyl cartridge. The extracted sample was acetylated or silylated and analyzed with GC/MS-SIM. The detection sensitivity of silylated PCP was improved significantly when compared with those of PCP itself and acetylated PCP. As a test specimen, an office paper and a wallpaper were used.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.705-715
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• 2013

The response of the freshwater microalga Chlorella vulgaris to mercuric ion ($Hg^{2+}$) stress was examined using chlorophyll a fluorescence image analysis and O-J-I-P analysis as a way to monitor the toxic effects of mercury on water ecosystems. The levels of photosynthetic pigments, such as chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids, decreased with increasing $Hg^{2+}$ concentration. The maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II(Fv/Fm) changed remarkably with increasing $Hg^{2+}$ concentration and treatment time. In particular, above $200{\mu}M\;Hg^{2+}$, considerable mercury toxicity was seen within 2 h. The chlorophyll a fluorescence transient O-J-I-P was also remarkably affected by $Hg^{2+}$; the fluorescence emission decreased considerably in steps J, I, and P with an increase in $Hg^{2+}$ concentration when treated for 4 h. Subsequently, the JIP-test parameters (Fm, Fv/Fo, RC/CS, TRo/CS, ETo/CS, ${\Phi}_{PO}$, ${\Psi}_O$ and ${\Phi}_{EO}$) decreased with increasing $Hg^{2+}$ concentration, while N, Sm, ABS/RC, DIo/RC and DIo/CS increased. Therefore, a useful biomarker for investigating mercury stress in water ecosystems, and the parameters Fm, ${\Phi}_{PO}$, ${\Psi}_O$, and RC/CS can be used to monitor the environmental stress in water ecosystems quantitatively.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.685-690
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• 2017

Ammonia is a useful substance which is widely used in various industries. It is generally released by the decomposition of agricultural wastes and known to have toxic effects on human beings. Due to the common usage, it is possible to cause water pollution through either direct or indirect leakage. Such cases, it is preferable to use the adsorption capacity of zeolite to rapidly remove ammonium ions, but it is not sufficiently removed by the adsorption only. In this paper, the removal efficiency of ammonium ion through both the adsorption capacities of commercial synthetic zeolites and the biological mechanism of microorganisms were compared. In addition, microorganisms were immobilized on the zeolite in order to enhance the removal efficiency by applying a chemo-biological process. As a result, the standard commercial zeolite showed 67~81% of the removal efficiency in 2~4 hours at a 100 ppm concentration of ammonium, whereas the selected microorganism Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. Pneumoniae showed up to 97% within 8 hours. When the microorganism was immobilized on the zeolite, the highest removal efficiency of approximately 98.5% were observed within 8 hours.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.121-126
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• 2006

HVOF thermal spray coating of Co-alloy T800 is progressively replacing the classical hard coatings such as chrome plating because of the very toxic $Cr^{6+}$ ion known as carcinogen causing lung cancer. For the study of the possibility of replacing of chrome plating, the wear properties of HVOF Co-alloy T800 coatings are investigated using the reciprocating sliding tester both at room and at an elevated temperature of $1000^{\circ}F\;(538^{\circ}C)$. The possibility as durability improvement coating is studied for the application to the high speed spindles vulnerable to frictional heat and wear. Wear mechanisms at the reciprocating sliding wear test are studied for the application to the systems similar to the sliding test such as high speed spindles. Wear debris and frictional coefficients of T800 coatings both at room and at an elevated temperature of $1000^{\circ}F\;(538^{\circ}C)$ are drastically reduced compared to those of non-coated surface of parent substrate Inconel 718. This study shows that the coating is recommendable for the durability improvement coatings on the surfaces vulnerable to frictional heat. The sliding surfaces are weared by the mixed mechanisms such as oxidative wear, abrasion by the sliding ball slurry erosion by the mixture of solid particles and small drops of the melts and semi-melts of the attrited particles cavitation by the relative motions among the coating, sliding ball, the melts and semi-melts. and corrosive wear. The oxide particles and the melts and semi-melts play roles as solid and liquid lubricant reducing the wear and friction coefficient.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2014

Protocatechualdehyde (PA) is phenolic compound having antioxidative and antitumor activities. PA was purified from supernatant of Streptomyces lincolnensis M-20. In the presence of copper ion, PA acted as pro-oxidant. The antioxidant activity was assessed with the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, and the pro-oxidant effect of PA on DNA damage as pBR322 plasmid DNA-cleaving agents in the presence of Cu(II) ions was investigated. The involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the DNA damage was confirmed by the inhibition of the DNA breakage by using glutathione (GSH), specific scavenger of ROS. When the increase in ROS reaches a certain level (the toxic threshold), it may trigger cell death. The formation of the PA/Cu(II) chelate complex was confirmed by reaction with ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA), a well-known chelating agent for metal ions, by using UV/Vis spectroscopic analysis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.138-146
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• 2015

Purpose: If early diagnosis is not made, patients with metabolic disorders as homocystinemia rapidly progress to physical defect or mental retardation resulted in storage of the toxic material into the brain. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an analytical method for a rapid screening and/or correct confirmation diagnosis. Methods: The standard solution of sulfur amino acids spiked plasma was subjected to protein precipitation with methanol, and then consecutively derivatized with trimethylsilyl (TMS) and trifluoroacyl (TFA) and determined by GC-MS. The formation of TMS derivative of the hydroxyl and TFA derivative of amino functional group was performed by BSTFA and MBTFA, respectively. Selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode was used for quantification with selected specific ions. Results: A calibration curve on standard spiked pooled plasma showed a linear relationship with correlation coefficient of 0.9936-0.9992 for all compounds over the range of 0.1-300 ng. The precision and accuracy were within S.D. of 1-15% and RSD of 1-15% for intra-day assay at 2 ng/mL, 15 ng/mL and 30 ng/mL. LOD and LOQ was 0.4 ng/mL and 4 ng/mL respectively. Conclusion: A rapid analytical method was developed to quantify sulfur amino acids and methyl malonic acid, after two-step derivatization procedure with good sensitivity and specificity on human plasma. Advantages of a new method are simplicity and rapidity. The method could be useful for routine analysis, diagnosis of homocysteinemia.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.279-285
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• 2001

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a halophilic bacterium associated with seafood gastroenteritis. An unusual strain of Kanagawa-positive urease producing Vibrio parahaemolyticus O1:K1 was isolated from the environment and identified . A polymerase chain reaction assay revealed that this strain harbored both the tdh and the genes. The urease from this strain was studied. Maximum urease production was induced in LB medium containing 0.2% urea, 0.5% glucose, 2% NaCl and pH 5.5 with 6h of culti-vation at 37$\^{C}$ under aeration. Purification of urease was achieved by the process of whole cell lysate, 65% ammonium sulphate precipitation, DEAE-cellulose ion exchange column chromatography, Sepharose CL-6B gel filtration and oxirane activated Sepharose 6B-urea affinity chromatography with 203 fold purification and 2.2% yield. Analysis of the purified enzyme by SDS-PAGE demonstrated the presence of the subunits with a molecular weight of 85kDa, 59kDa, 41kDa and the molecular weight for the native enzyme by nondenaturing PAGE and gel filtration chromatography was 255kDa. The purified urease was stable at pH 7.5 and the opeimal pH in HEPES buffer was 8.0 The enzyme was stable at 60$\^{C}$ for 2 h with a residual activity of 32% . The addition of 10$\mu$M if NiCl$_2$maintained stability for 30 min. The Km value of the purified enzyme was 35.6 mM in urea substrate. The TD$\_$50/(median toxic dose) of the purified urease was 2.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml on human leukemia cells.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.113-117
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• 2009

A method was developed using enhanced liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for the analysis and quantitation of 2 main potato glycoalkaloids, $\alpha$-chaconine, and $\alpha$-solanine, without any pre-concentration or derivatisation steps. Calibration curves generated by this technique exhibited a linear dynamic range from 0.025 to $50{\mu}g/mL$ and from 0.05 to $50{\mu}g/mL$ for $\alpha$-chaconine and $\alpha$-solanine, respectively. Matrix effects were evaluated by comparing calibration curves measured in matrix-matched and solvent-based systems. Ion suppression due to matrix effects was weak and extraction recoveries of 88 to 114% were obtained in different sample matrices spiked with analyte concentrations ranging from 15 to $35{\mu}g/mL$. Potatoes that had been genetically modified to tolerate glufosinate contained the same glycoalkaloid levels as their non-transgenic counterpart. We suggest complementing compositional comparison assessment strategy by validating quantitative analytical methods for the toxic glycoalkaloids in potato plants.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.195-203
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• 2016

Copper is an essential element required for a variety of functions exerted by cuproproteins. An alteration of the copper level is associated with multiple pathological conditions including chronic ischemia, atherosclerosis and cancers. Therefore, copper homeostasis, maintained by a combination of two copper ions ($Cu^+$ and $Cu^{2+}$), is critical for health. However, less is known about which of the two copper ions is more toxic or functional in endothelial cells. Cubic-shaped $Cu_2O$ and CuO crystals were prepared to test the role of the two different ions, $Cu^+$ and $Cu^{2+}$, respectively. The $Cu_2O$ crystal was found to have an effect on cell death in endothelial cells whereas CuO had no effect. The $Cu_2O$ crystals appeared to induce p62 degradation, LC3 processing and an elevation of LC3 puncta, important processes for autophagy, but had no effect on apoptosis and necrosis. $Cu_2O$ crystals promote endothelial cell death via autophagy, elevate the level of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide and nitric oxide, and subsequently activate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) through superoxide rather than nitric oxide. Consistently, the AMPK inhibitor Compound C was found to inhibit $Cu_2O$-induced AMPK activation, p62 degradation, and LC3 processing. This study provides insight on the pathophysiologic function of $Cu^+$ ions in the vascular system, where $Cu^+$ induces autophagy while $Cu^{2+}$ has no detected effect.