• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.171-184
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• 2017

This study presents the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the characteristics of emission of three major greenhouse gases (GHGs) including $CH_4$, $CO_2$ and $N_2O$ during operation of a sequencing batch reactor for aerobic oxidation of methane with denitrification (AeOM-D SBR). Dissolved $N_2O$ concentration increased, leveled-off and slightly decreased as the HRT increased from 0.25 to 1d. Concentration of the dissolved $N_2O$ was higher at the shorter HRT, which was highly associated with the lowered C/N ratio. A longer HRT resulted in a higher C/N ratio with a sufficient carbon source produced by methanotrophs via methane oxidation, which provided a favorable condition for reducing $N_2O$ formation. With a less formation of the dissolved $N_2O$, $N_2O$ emission rate was lower at a longer HRT condition due to the lower C/N ratio. Opposite to the $N_2O$ emission, emission rates of $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ were higher at a longer HRT. Longer HRT resulted in the greater total GHGs emission as $CO_2$ equivalent which was doubled when the HRT increased from 0.5d to 1.0 d. Contribution of $CH_4$ onto the total GHGs emission was most dominant accounting for 98 - 99% compared to that of $N_2O$ (< 2%).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권8호
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• pp.1088-1097
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• 2021

Grouper nervous necrosis virus (GNNV) infection causes mass grouper mortality, leading to substantial economic loss in Taiwan. Traditional methods of controlling GNNV infections involve the challenge of controlling disinfectant doses; low doses are ineffective, whereas high doses may cause environmental damage. Identifying potential methods to safely control GNNV infection to prevent viral outbreaks is essential. We engineered a virus-binding bacterium expressing a myxovirus resistance (Mx) protein on its surface for GNNV removal from phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), thus increasing the survival of grouper fin (GF-1) cells. We fused the grouper Mx protein (which recognizes and binds to the coat protein of GNNV) to the C-terminus of outer membrane lipoprotein A (lpp-Mx) and to the N-terminus of a bacterial autotransporter adhesin (Mx-AIDA); these constructs were expressed on the surfaces of Escherichia coli BL21 (BL21/lpp-Mx and BL21/Mx-AIDA). We examined bacterial surface expression capacity and GNNV binding activity through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; we also evaluated the GNNV removal efficacy of the bacteria and viral cytotoxicity after bacterial adsorption treatment. Although both constructs were successfully expressed, only BL21/lpp-Mx exhibited GNNV binding activity; BL21/lpp-Mx cells removed GNNV and protected GF-1 cells from GNNV infection more efficiently. Moreover, salinity affected the GNNV removal efficacy of BL21/lpp-Mx. Thus, our GNNV-binding bacterium is an efficient microparticle for removing GNNV from 10‰ brackish water and for preventing GNNV infection in groupers.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.48-53
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• 2019

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are widely generated in biological processes such as normal metabolism and response to xenobiotic exposure. While ROS can be beneficial or harmful to cells and tissues, generation of ROS by diverse anti-cancer drugs or phytochemicals plays an important role in the induction of apoptosis. We recently identified a derivative of naphthalene, MS-5, that induces apoptosis of an ovarian cell, CAOV-3. Interestingly, MS-5 induced apoptosis by down-regulating the ROS. Cell viability was evaluated by water-soluble tetrazolium salt (WST-1) assay. Apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry analysis. Intracellular ROS ($H_2O_2$), mitochondrial superoxide, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and effect on cycle were determined by flow cytometry. Protein expression was assessed by western blotting. The level of ATP was measured using ATP Colorimetric/Fluorometric Assay kit. MS-5 inhibited growth of ovarian cancer cell lines, CAOV-3, in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. MS-5 also induced G1 cell cycle arrest in CAOV-3 cells, while MS-5 decreased intracellular ROS generation. In addition, cells treated with MS-5 showed the decrease in MMP and ATP production. In this study, we found that treatment with MS-5 in CAOV-3 cells induced apoptosis but decreased ROS level. We suspect that MS-5 might interfere with the minimum requirements of ROS for survival. These perturbations appear to be concentration-dependent, suggesting that MS-5 may induce apoptosis by interfering with ROS generation. We propose that MS-5 may be a potent therapeutic agent for inducing apoptosis in ovarian cancer cell through regulation of ROS.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.29-38
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• 2019

Microbial community and composition in stormwater runoff from mixed land use land cover (LULC) catchment with ongoing land development was diverse across the hydrological stage due different environmental parameters (hydrometeorological and physicochemical) and source of runoff. However, limited studies have been made for bacterial composition in this catchment. Therefore, this study aims to: (1) quantify the concentration of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), stormwater quality and bacterial composition and structure according to hydrological stage; and (2) determine their correlation to environmental parameters. The 454 pyrosequencing was used to determine the bacterial community and composition; while Pearson's correlation was used to determine the correlation among parameters-FIB, stormwater quality, bacterial composition and structure-to environmental parameters. Results demonstrated that the initial and peak runoff has the highest concentration of FIB, stormwater quality and bacterial composition and structure. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes were dominant bacteria identified in this catchment. Furthermore, the 20 most abundant genera were correlated with runoff duration, average rainfall intensity, runoff volume, runoff flow, temperature, pH, organic matter, nutrients, TSS and turbidity. An increase of FIB and stormwater quality concentration, diversity and richness of bacterial composition and structure in this study was possibly due to leakage from septic tanks, cesspools and latrines; feces of domestic and wild animals; and runoff from forest, destroyed septic system in land development site and urban LULC. Overall, this study will provide an evidence of hydrological stage impacts on the runoff microbiome environment and public health perspective.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.45-55
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• 2019

Climate change has significantly affected the rainfall characteristics which can influence the pollutant build-up and wash-off patterns from the catchment. Therefore, this study explored the influence of varying rainfall characteristics on urban and agricultural runoff pollutant export using statistical approaches. For this purpose, Mann-Kendall and Pettitt's test were applied to detect the trend and breakpoint in rainfall characteristics time series. In addition, double mass curve and correlation analysis were used to drive the relationship between rainfall-runoff and pollutant exports from both catchments. The results indicate a significant decreased in total rainfall and average rainfall intensity, while a significant increased trend for antecedents dry days and total storm duration over the study periods. The breakpoint was determined to be 2013 which shows remarkable trend shifts for total rainfall, average rainfall intensity and antecedents dry days except total duration. Double mass curve exhibited a straight line with significant rainfall-runoff relationship indicates a climate change effect on both sites. Overall, higher pollutant exports were observed at both sites during the baseline period as compared to change periods. In agricultural site, most of the pollutants exhibited significant (p< 0.05) association with total rainfall, average rainfall intensity and total storm duration. In contrast, pollutants from urban site significantly correlated with antecedent dry days and average rainfall intensity. Thus, total rainfall, average rainfall intensity and total duration were the significant factors for the agricultural catchment while, antecedents dry days and average rainfall intensity were key factors in build-up and wash-off from the urban catchment.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.91-97
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• 2019

Application of bioretention systems in Korea is highly considered due to its minimal space requirements, appropriateness as small landscape areas and good pollutant removal and peak hydraulic flow reduction efficiency. In this study, the efficiency of two lab-scale bioretention types having different physical properties, media configuration and planted with different shrubs and perennials was investigated in reducing heavy metal pollutants in stormwater runoff. Type A bioretention systems were planted with shrubs whereas type B were planted with perennials. Chrysanthemum zawadskii var. latilobum (A-CL) and Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila (A-AP) respectively were planted in each type A bioretention reactors while Rhododendron indicum linnaeus (B-RL) and Spiraea japonica (B-SJ), respectively were planted in each type B bioretention reactors. Results revealed that the four lab-scale bioretention reactors significantly reduced the influent total suspended load by about 89 to 94% (p<0.01). Type B-RL and B-SJ reactors reduced soluble Cr, Cu, Zn, and Pb by 28 to 45% that were 15 to 35% greater than the soluble metal reduction of type A-CL and A-AP reactors, respectively. Among the pollutants, total Cr attained the greatest discharged fraction of 0.52-0.81. Excluding the effect of soil media, total Pb attained the greatest retention fraction in the bioretention systems amounting to 0.15-0.34. Considering the least discharge fraction of heavy metal in the bioretention system, it was observed that the bioretention systems achieved effectual reduction in terms of total Cu, Zn and Pb. These findings were associated with the poor adsorption capacity of the soil used in each bioretention system. The results of this study may be used for estimating the maintenance requirements of bioretention systems.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

This study explored the feasibility of calcium-rich food waste, Mactra veneriformis shells (MVS), as an adsorbent for phosphate removal, and its removal efficiency was enhanced by the thermal activation process. The CaCO3 in MVS was converted to CaO by thermal activation (>800 ℃), which is more favorable for adsorbing phosphate. Thermal activation did not noticeably influence the specific surface area of MVS. The MVS thermally activated at 800 ℃ (MVS-800), showed the highest phosphate adsorption capacity, was used for further adsorption experiments, including kinetics, equilibrium isotherms, and thermodynamic adsorption. The effects of environmental factors, including pH, competing anions, and adsorbent dosage, were also studied. Phosphate adsorption by MVS-800 reached equilibrium within 48h, and the kinetic adsorption data were well explained by the pseudo-first-order model. The Langmuir model was a better fit for phosphate adsorption by MVS-800 than the Freundlich model, and the maximum adsorption capacity of MVS-800 obtained via the Langmuir model was 188.86 mg/g. Phosphate adsorption is an endothermic and involuntary process. As the pH increased, the phosphate adsorption decreased, and a sharp decrease was observed between pH 7 and 9. The presence of anions had a negative impact on phosphate removal, and their impact followed the decreasing order CO₃^2- > SO₄²- > NO₃^- > Cl^-. The increase in adsorbent dosage increased phosphate removal percentage, and 6.67 g/L of MVS-800 dose achieved 99.9% of phosphate removal. It can be concluded that the thermally treated MVS-800 can be used as an effective adsorbent for removing phosphate.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.85-95
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• 2022

Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE), critical pollutants to human health and groundwater ecosystems, are managed by groundwater quality standards (GQS) in South Korea. However, there are no GQSs for their by-products, such as cis-dichloroethylene (DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC) produced through the dechlorination process of PCE and TCE. Therefore, in this study, we monitored PCE, TCE, cis-DCE, and VC in 111 national groundwater wells for three years (2016 to 2018) to evaluate their distributions, a biological dechlorination possibility, and human risk assessment. The detection frequency of them was 30.2% for PCE, 45.1% for TCE, 43.9% for cis-DCE and 13.4% for VC. The four chlorinated compounds were commonly detected in 21 out of 111 wells. In the results of statistical analysis with 21 wells data, DO and ORP also had a negative correlation with four organic chlorinated compounds, while EC and sulfate has a positive correlation with the compounds. This indicates that the 21 wells were relatively met with suitable environments for a biological dechlorination reaction compared to the other wells. Finally, cis-DCE had a non-carcinogenic risk of 10^-1 and the carcinogenic risk of VC was 10^-6 or higher. Through this study, the distribution status of the four chlorinated compounds in groundwater in South Korea and the necessity of preparing plans to manage cis-DCE and VC were confirmed.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.67-78
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• 2024

In this study, a nickel hexacyanoferrate and manganese dioxide-polyacrylonitrile (NM-PAN) composite was synthesized and used for the sorptive removal of Co²⁺, Sr²⁺, and Cs⁺ Cs⁺ in radioactive laundry wastewater. Single- and multi-solute competitive sorptions onto NM-PAN were investigated. The Freundlich (Fr), Langmuir (Lang), Kargi-Ozmıhci (K-O), Koble-Corrigan (K-C), and Langmuir-Freundlich (Lang-Fr) models satisfactorily predicted all the single sorption data. The sorption isotherms were nonlinearly favorable (Freundlich coefficient, N_F = 0.385-0.426). Cs⁺ has the highest maximum sorption capacity (q_mL = 0.855 mmol g^-1) for NM-PAN compared to Co²⁺ and Sr²⁺, wherein the primary mechanism was the physical process (mainly ion-exchange). The competition between the metal ions in the binary and ternary systems reduced the respective sorption capacities. Binary and ternary sorption models, such as the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) model coupled with single sorption models of IAST-Fr, IAST-K-O, IAST-K-C and IAST-Lang-Fr, were fitted to the experimental data; among these, the IAST-Freundlich model showed the most satisfactory prediction for the binary and ternary systems. The presence of cationic surfactants highly affected the sorption on NM-PAN due to the increase in distribution coefficients (K_d) of Co²⁺ and Cs⁺.

• 대한환경공학회지
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• 제31권11호
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• pp.997-1006
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• 2009

본 연구에서는 음폐수를 대상으로 5 톤/일 처리규모의 막결합형 2상 혐기성 소화(TPADUF) 플랜트를 운영하며 유기물 제거효율 및 메탄 발생량을 파악하고, 소화가스를 이용한 발전 가능성 및 분리막 적정 운영방안을 검토하였다. 고온 산발효조, 중온 메탄조 및 UF 막으로 구성된 처리 시스템에서 평균 TCOD가 150 g/L인 음폐수를 유기물 부하 11.1 g COD/L/d까지 증가시키며 처리한 결과 최종 유출수의 TCOD는 6 g/L 이하이었으며, TCOD 및 SCOD 제거효율은 모두 95% 이상이었다. 소화 가스의 메탄 구성비는 65%이었으며, 회수된 메탄량은 시스템에서 일부 가스가 누출되었음에도 39 $m^3/m^3$ 음폐수 주입량, 260 $m^3$/톤 COD유입량, 또는 270 $m^3$/톤 COD제거량 이었다. 소모된 가스량 당 발전량은 0.96 kWh/$m^3$ 가스, 또는 1.49 kWh/$m^3$ 메탄으로 다소 낮았으나 이는 소용량 발전기(15 kW급)의 저효율에 기인한 것이다. 분리막은 평균 flux 10 L/$m^2$/hr에서 운전하였으며, 운전 중 flux가 감소하였을 때는 물 또는 화학적(NaOCl)세정을 실시하여 회복시킬 수 있었다. TPADUF 플랜트에서는 메탄조 내액 또는 분리막 농축액을 산발효조로 반송함으로써 산발효조의 pH를 별도의 약품 주입 없이 적정 수준을 유지할 수 있었으며, 산발효조에서 부분적인 메탄생성을 통해 메탄조의 유기물 부하를 낮추는 효과도 있었다.