• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.51-63
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• 2007

Chitosan, a natural cationic macromolecular material, has been known for its moisturizing and healing effect due to the coating action based on strong ionic bonding when the chitosan is treated on hair strands. In this study, the acidic aqueous chitosan solution was prepared to treat healthy hair, and damaged hair due to bleaching, relatively thin hair and thick hair specimens. The chitosan treatment effect was reviewed by comparing spectrophotometric and mechanical characteristics of the chitosan treated and untreated specimens. Electrostatic voltage was somewhat reduced after the chitosan treatment. Smoothly coated surface was observed, in the SEM images, especially for damaged hair specimens. The values of breaking strength, which is one of the indicators of the internal characteristics of hair, was high in the case of chitosan treated samples. The values of elongation was also high in the case of chitosan treated samples, which proves the chitosan treatment effect. The friction force, one of the indicators of surface characteristics, was reduced for the case of chitosan treated samples.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.88-93
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• 2013

Alexander disease (ALXD) is a rare demyelinating disease of the white matter of the brain that is caused by a mutation in the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) gene. The overexpression of GFAP in astrocytes induces a failure in the developmental growth of the myelin sheath. The neurodegenerative destruction of the myelin sheath of the white matter is accompanied by an accumulation of abnormal deposits of Rosenthal fibers in astrocytes, which is the hallmark of ALXD. The disease can be divided into four groups based on the onset age of the patients: neonatal, infantile, juvenile, or adult. Early-onset disease is more severe, progresses rapidly, and results in a shorter life span than late-onset cases. Magnetic resonance imaging and genetic tests are mostly used for diagnostic purposes. Pathological tests of brain tissue for Rosenthal fibers are definitive diagnostic methods. Therapeutic strategies are being investigated. Ceftriaxone, which is an enhancer of glial glutamate transporter (GLT-1) expression, is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of patients with ALXD. To date, there are no clinically available treatments. The cause, pathology, pathophysiology, inheritance, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of ALXD will be reviewed comprehensively.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.1-14
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• 2015

Objectives : This study was designed to investigate the effects of Taraxaci Herba (TH) on cell death in breast cancer cells. Methods : In this experiment, the effects of TH on proliferation rates, cell morphology and growth pattern, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. In addition, the effects on nuclear condensation, fragmentation and formation of acidic vesicular organelles (AVO) in MCF-7 cells were also investigated. Finally, autophagy related with protein was observed by using western blot method. Results : TH inhibited proliferation of MCF-7 cells, TH elevated intracellular ROS levels significantly. Treatment with TH did not affect nuclear morphologies such as condensation or fragmentation. On the other hand, TH treatment effectively induced AVO. Finally, one of autophagy related with protein, Microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3A (MAP1LC3A, LC3) level was elevated by treatment with TH. Conclusions : These data indicate that TH is able to be used for patient with breast cancer and mechanisms are involved in autophagy through ROS generation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.329-337
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• 2020

Polyacrylamide (PAM) possesses high water absorption capacity and a unique pH-dependent behavior that confer large potential to enhance the engineering performance of clays. In this study, calcium bentonite was treated with a nonionic PAM. Flexible-wall permeability test and the consolidation test were performed at different pH values to evaluate the effects of PAM treatment on the hydraulic and consolidation properties. Test results demonstrate that index properties are affected by the adsorbed PAM on clay surface: a decrease in specific gravity, a decrease in net zeta potential, and an increase in liquid limit are observed due to the PAM treatment. At a given pH, the compressibility of the treated clay is greater than that of the untreated clay. However, the compression indices of untreated and treated clays can be expressed as a single function of the initial void ratio, regardless of pH. Hydraulic conductivity is reduced by PAM treatment about 5 times at both neutral and alkaline pH conditions under similar void ratios, because of the reduction in size of the water flow channel by PAM expansion. However, at acidic pH, the hydraulic conductivity of the treated clay is slightly higher than the untreated clay. This reflects that the treated bentonite with PAM can be beneficially used in barrier system for highly alkaline residues.

• Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.11-21
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• 1986

Mine drainage from coal mines is mostly acidic, polluted and/or contaminated, even if its quantity has increased substantially during recent days. This causes two kinds of problems arising at mining districts; one is the environmental disruption and the other is insufficient water supply for living, employee's bathing and industrial purposes. In order to mitigate the aforementioned problems, a specific equipment of Korea type for mine drainage purification has been developed and its prototype manufactured, followed by its applicability tests implemented at mine site. The results of the tests indicates that the new equipment developed is much lower than and economical compared to, other existing neutralization facilities at home and abroad in capital investment at installation stage, the consumption of neutralizing chemicals at operation stage and the requirements of installation site. Whangji area where the prototype water treatment equipment is installed has been sustaining a short supply of usable water, especially in dry seasons and supplementing about 40㎥ of water brought from a location farther than 4km in distance to meet water requirements. The prototype water treatment equipment is however considered capable of providing compressor cooling water in sufficient amount from winter season In the future.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.51-58
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• 2008

This paper presents the effect of acid treatment on the removal of metals and the brightness of pulp. The bleached kraft pulps, metal-absorbed pulps and recycled pulps((ONP, OCC, MOW, and SC) were treated with the acidic solutions. Among metals in the bleached kraft pulps, Cu, Ca and Mg were removed easily by the acid washing, whereas Fe, Al and Si were not removed. The acid washing also removed distinctly metals from the metal-absorbed pulps. The metals absorbed in pulps reduced the brightness (%, ISO). Especially, Fe was the most detrimental metal. However, the brightness which was decreased by metals was restored to the status quo by the acid washing. The level of metals in recycled pulps was gradually reduced after the first flotation and acid treatment. Hence, the degree of metal removal by the acid washing was mainly dependent upon the kinds of waste pulps and metal ions.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.110-121
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• 2022

The effluents from industries processing vegetable oils are extremely rich in sulfates, often exceeding the maximum concentration allowed to release them to the environment. Biological sulfate reduction is a promising alternative for the removal of sulfates in this type of wastewater, which has other particularities such as an acidic pH. The ability to reduce sulfates has been widely described for a particular bacterial group (SRB: sulfate-reducing bacteria), although the reports describing its application for the treatment of sulfate-rich industrial wastewaters are scarce. In this work, we describe the use of a natural SRB-based consortium able to remove above 30% of sulfates in the wastewater from one of the largest edible oil industries in Peru. Metataxonomic analysis was used to analyse the interdependencies established between SRB and the native microbiota present in the wastewater samples, and the performance of the consortium was quantified for different sulfate concentrations in laboratory-scale reactors. Our results pave the way towards the use of this consortium as a low-cost, sustainable alternative for the treatment of larger volumes of wastewater coming from this type of industries.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.139-152
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• 2024

Mixed matrix membranes have gained significant recognition in the wastewater treatment industry for their effectiveness in removing dyes, proteins, and heavy metals from water sources. Researchers have developed an innovative technique to enhance properties of these membranes by incorporating amine-functionalized carbon nanotubes into the polymer matrix. This approach introduces amine functional groups onto the membrane surface, which are then modified with trimesoyl chloride and cyanuric chloride. The modified membranes are characterized by XPS to confirm successful bonding of amines with the trimesoyl chloride and cyanuric chloride. The surface charge of the modified membrane also plays a role in the modification process; the membrane modified with trimesoyl chloride has a negative surface charge, while the one modified with cyanuric chloride has a more positive charge. At the same acidic pH, the positive or negative charge of the mixed matrix membranes assists in enhancing the rejection of heavy metals. This results in improved antifouling properties for both modified membranes. The heavy metal rejection for all modified membranes is higher than for unmodified membranes, due to both adsorption and complexation abilities of the functional groups on the membrane surface with heavy metal ions. As the membrane surface functionalities increase through modification, the separation due to complexation also increases. The bulk morphology of the membrane remains unchanged, while roughness slightly increases due to the surface treatment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.718-722
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• 2015

Techniques for immobilizing effective enzymes on nanoparticles for stabilization of the activity of free enzymes have been developing as a pharmaceutical field. In this study, we examined the effect of three different pH conditions of phosphate buffer, as a dissolving solvent for lysosomal enzymes, on the direct immobilization of lysosomal enzymes extracted from Hen's egg white and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Titanium(IV) oxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles, which are extensively used in many research fields, were used in this study. The lysosomal enzymes immobilized on TiO₂ under each pH condition were evaluated to maintain the specific activity of lysosomal enzymes, so that we can determine the degree of melanin treatment in lysosomal enzymes immobilized on TiO₂. We found that the immobilization efficiency and melanin treatment activity in both lysosomal enzymes extracted from Hen's egg white and S. cerevisiae were the highest in an acidic condition of phosphate buffer (pH 4). However, the immobilization efficiency and melanin treatment activity were inversely proportional to the increase in pH under alkaline conditions. In addition, enhanced immobilization efficiency was shown in TiO₂ pretreated with a divalent, positively charged ion, Ca²⁺, and the melanin treatment activity of immobilized lysosomal enzymes on TiO₂ pretreated with Ca²⁺ was also increased. Therefore, this result suggests that the immobilization efficiency and melanin treatment activity of lysosomal enzymes can be enhanced according to the pH conditions of the dissolving solvent.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.194-201
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• 2012

In this research, a sewage sludge solubilization study using electrolysis was performed as a pre-treatment for anaerobic digestion efficiency improvement. SCOD potency increased as the treatment time and electric current density increased with sludge electrolysis treatment while SCOD, TN, and TP especially showed the highest increase of 7.4 times, 1.9 times, and 1.3 times respectively at the 60 minute point of treatment. Solubilization was high at the strong acidic and alkaline status for the sewage sludge electrolysis treatment results along early stage pH, and especially, a high solubilization percentage of 32.9% was seen at pH 12. The above result shows that there was an increase of organic matter able to be used by microorganisms from sludge floc and the destruction of EPS structure due to direct and indirect oxidation following electrolysis.