• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.748-755
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• 2014

In the genome annotation of Escherichia coli MG1655, the orf382 (1,149 bp) is designated as a gene encoding an alcohol dehydrogenase that may be Fe-dependent. In this study, the gene was amplified from the genome by PCR and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The recombinant $6{\times}$His-tag protein was then purified and characterized. In an enzymatic assay using different hydroxyl-containing substrates (n-butanol, $\small{L}$-threonine, ethanol, isopropanol, glucose, glycerol, $\small{L}$-serine, lactic acid, citric acid, methanol, or $\small{D}$-threonine), the enzyme showed the highest activity on $\small{L}$-threonine. Characterization of the mutant constructed using gene knockout of the orf382 also implied the function of the enzyme in the metabolism of $\small{L}$-threonine into glycine. Considering the presence of tested substrates in living E. coli cel ls and previous literature, we believed that the suitable nomenclature for the enzyme should be an $\small{L}$-threonine dehydrogenase (LTDH). When using $\small{L}$-threonine as the substrate, the enzyme exhibited the best catalytic performance at $39^{\circ}C$ and pH 9.8 with $NAD^+$ as the cofactor. The determination of the Km values towards $\small{L}$-threonine (Km = $11.29{\mu}M$), ethanol ($222.5{\mu}M$), and n-butanol ($8.02{\mu}M$) also confirmed the enzyme as an LTDH. Furthermore, the LTDH was shown to be an ion-containing protein based on inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry with an isoelectronic point of pH 5.4. Moreover, a circular dichroism analysis revealed that the metal ion was structurally and enzymatically essential, as its deprivation remarkably changed the ${\alpha}$-helix percentage (from 12.6% to 6.3%).

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.317-324
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• 2014

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) samples were collected separately in mainstream and side-stream smoke using a self-designed smoking machine, and a total 40 of PM2.5 was collected with low volume air sampler at indoor environments with and without ETS in Daejeon, Korea. About 20 trace elements including toxic metals like As, Cr, Mn, Se, V, and Zn were determined in PM2.5 and ETS samples by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). It is found that the emission factors of K, Cl, Na, and Al were much higher than those of toxic elements for both mainstream and side-stream smoke. The average concentration of PM2.5 was enriched by 1.5 times at smoking area ($58.7{\pm}18.1{\mu}g/m^3$) than at smoking free area ($38.6{\pm}12.7{\mu}g/m^3$). The concentration ratio of each element between smoking and smoking free area were ranged from 1.1 to 6.0 except Cu (1.0); especially, Ce (6.0), La (5.2), K (2.3), and Co (2.0) showed higher ratio, which suggests that the ETS is one of the possible increasing factors of PM2.5 and elemental concentration at indoor environment.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-6
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• 2017

Functional coatings, such as anti-reflection and self-cleaning, are frequently applied to cover glass for photovoltaic applications. Anti-reflection coatings made of mesoporous silica film have been shown to enhance the light transmittance. $TiO_2$ photocatalyst films are often applied as a self-cleaning coating. In this study, transparent hydrophobic anti-reflective and self-cleaning coatings made of $SiO_2/TiO_2$ thin layers were fabricated on a slide glass substrate by the sol-gel and dip-coating processes. The morphology of the functional coatings was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The optical properties of the functional coatings were investigated using an UV-visible spectrophotometer. Contact angle measurements were performed to confirm the hydrophobicity of the surface. The results showed that the $TiO_2$ films exhibit a high transmittance comparable to that of the bare slide glass substrate. The $TiO_2$ nanoparticles make the film more reflective and lead to a lower transmittance. However, the transmittance of the $SiO_2/TiO_2$ thin layers is 93.5% at 550 nm with a contact angle of $110^{\circ}$, which is higher than that of the bare slide glass (2.0%).

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.253-260
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• 2008

Comparative study was performed on heavy metal contents among domestic herbal medicines and imported one. The heavy metal contents in 89 samples of 65 types of herbal medicines were measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and mercury analyzer. The mean values of heavy metal contents (mg/kg) for herbal medicines were as follows: Hg, 0.010 (domestic: 0.010, imported: 0.010); Pb, 0.380 (domestic: 0.311, imported: 0.449); Cd, 0.080 (domestic: 0.101, imported: 0.059); As, 2.085 (domestic: 1.845, imported: 2.324); Mn, 31.564 (domestic: 33.844, imported: 29.283); Zn, 15.436 (domestic: 18.703, imported: 12.168); Cu, 3.406 (domestic: 3.374, imported: 3.437); Fe, 134.944 (domestic: 108.327, imported: 161.561). The measured values of Hg, Pb and Cd of domestic and imported herbal medicines showed lower levels than the recommended levels of those in herbal medicines by WHO/PHARM (Pb : not more than 5 mg/kg, Cd : not more than 0.3 mg/kg). This results will he used as a basic data for the future legislation on the regulation and control of heavy metal contents of herbal medicines.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2010

The calcium to phosphate ratio (Ca/P) in biphasic calcium phosphates powders using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) was characterized. The BCP powders with various stoichiometric Ca/P molar ratio were synthesized with coprecipitation process and calcination. Compositions of the powders with Ca/P molar ratio between 1.5 and 1.67 were subjected to starting Ca/P molar ratio, pH = 10, and thermal treatment up to $900^{\circ}C$. The structural, morphological and chemical characterizations for BCP powders with stoichiometric Ca/P ratio were carried out with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and a phase quantification was investigated by XRD. The solubility of HAp, $\beta$-TCP, and BCP powders was tested in the phosphate buffer solution (PBS) at $36.5^{\circ}C$ and pH = 7.4.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 2017

Objectives: The pollution status of heavy metals within the soil was investigated with an aim to establishing a sustainable soil environment within parks and amusement facilities installed in urban areas of Gyeonggi-do Province. Methods: As sampling sites, 14 locations were selected from a city with a number of factories near a residential area, a residential area, and a children's park in a city with mixed green areas. Seven kinds of heavy metals, including Cd, Pb, and Hg, and the pH of soil were analyzed three times by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). Results: In this study, the pH of the samples from the residential park and industrial park showed 5.7-6.5 and 5.9-7.0, respectively. The overall mean concentration (mg/kg) of heavy metals was Zn (132.8), Ni (73.0), Cu (47.4), Pb (35.9), As (4.84), Cd (0.39), and Hg (0.07), indicating that these concentrations of heavy metals were lower than those for the area 1 standard of soil pollution concern criteria. In addition, the sampling sites in the residential area and the industrial area also showed the same tendency for concentration distribution. Conclusions: We found that the soil pollution class (SPC) of some spots were over 200, which are third and fourth classes. In order to manage a sustainable soil environment in a city park, it is suggested that local governments, the management bodies for these parks, need to manage, supervise, and investigate soil pollution and quickly replace contaminated soil.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.254-263
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• 2006

Manganese has a role as both toxic and essential in humans. Manganese is also an essential component in the welding because it increases the hardness and strength, prevents steel from cracking of welding part and acts as a deoxidizing agent to form a stable weld. In this study, manganese generation rate and its content was determined in flux cored arc welding on stainless steel. Domestic two products and foreign four products of flux cored wires were tested in the well designed fume generation chamber as a function of input power. Welding fume was measured by gravimetric method and metal manganese was determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrophotometer. The outer shell of the flux cored wire tube and inner flux were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy to determine their metal compositions. Manganese generation rate($FGR_{mn}$) was increased as the input power increased. It was 16.3 mg/min at the low input power, 38.1 mg/min at the optimal input power, and up to 55.4 mg/min at the high input power. This means that $FGR_{mn}$ is increased at the work place if welder raise the current and/or voltage for the high productivity. The slope coefficient of $FGR_{mn}$ was smaller than that of the generation rate of total fume(FGR). Also, the correlation coefficient of $FGR_{mn}$ was 0.65 whereas that of FGR is 0.91. $FGR_{mn}$ was equal or higher in the domestic products than that of the foreign products although FGR was similar. From the electron microscopic analytical data, we concluded that outer shell of the wire was composed mainly of iron, chromium, nickel and less than 1.2 % of manganese. There are many metal ingredients such as iron, silica, manganese, zirconium, titanium, nickel, potassium, and aluminum in the inner flux but they were not homogeneous. It was found that both $FGR_{mn}$ and content of manganese was higher and more varied in domestic flux cored wires than those of foreign products. To reduce worker exposure to fumes and hazardous component at the source, further research is needed to develop new welding filler materials that improve the quality of flux cored wire in respect to these points. Welder should keep in mind that the FGR, $FGR_{mn}$ and probably the generation rate of other hazardous metals were increased as the input power increase for the high productivity.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.38-50
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• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect and potential of electron beam (E-beam) irradiation treatment to the synthetic bony mixtures composed of hydroxyapatite (HA; Bongros$^{(R)}$, Bio@ Co., Korea) and tricalcium phosphate (${\beta}$-TCP, Sigma-Aldrich Co., USA), mixed at various ratios and of type I collagen (Rat tail, BD Biosciences Co., Sweden) as an organic matrix. Methods: We used 1.0~2.0 MeV linear accelerator and 2.0 MeV superconductive linear accelerator (power 100 KW, pressure 115 kPa, temperature $-30{\sim}120^{\circ}C$, sensor sensitivity 0.1~1.2 mV/kPa, generating power sensitivity 44.75 mV/kPa, supply voltage $5{\pm}0.25$ V) with different irradiation dose, such as 1, 30 and 60 kGy. Structural changes in this synthetic bone material were studied in vitro, by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elementary analysis and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), attenuated total reflection (ATR), and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). Results: The large particular size of HA was changed after E-beam irradiation, to which small particle of TCP was engaged with organic collagen components in SEM findings. Conclusion: The important new in vitro data to be applicable as the substitutes of artificial bone materials in dental and medical fields will be able to be summarized.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.264-264
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• 2010

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were grown on a Si wafer by using thermal chemical vapor deposition (t-CVD). We investigated the effect of the catalyst deposition rate on the types of CNTs grown on the substrate. In general, smaller islands of catalyst occur by agglomeration of a catalyst layer upon annealing as the catalyst layer becomes thinner, which results in the growth of CNTs with smaller diameters. For the same thickness of catalyst, a slower deposition rate will cause a more uniformly thin catalyst layer, which will be agglomerated during annealing, producing smaller catalyst islands. Thus, we can expect that the smaller-diameter CNTs will grow on the catalyst deposited with a lower rate even for the same thickness of catalyst. The 0.5-nm-thick Fe served as a catalyst, underneath which Al was coated as a catalyst support as well as a diffusion barrier on the Si substrate. The catalyst layers were. coated by using thermal evaporation. The deposition rates of the Al and Fe layers varied to be 90, 180 sec/nm and 70, 140 sec/nm, respectively. We prepared the four different combinations of the deposition rates of the AI and Fe layers. CNTs were synthesized for 10 min by flowing 60 sccm of Ar and 60 sccm of $H_2$ as a carrier gas and 20 sccm of $C_2H_2$ as a feedstock at 95 torr and $810^{\circ}C$. The substrates were subject to annealing for 20 sec for every case to form small catalyst islands prior to CNT growth. As-grown CNTs were characterized by using field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis NIR spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The fast deposition of both the Al and Fe layers gave rise to the growth of thin multiwalled CNTs with the height of ${\sim}680\;{\mu}m$ for 10 min while the slow deposition caused the growth of ${\sim}800\;{\mu}m$ high SWCNTs. Several radial breathing mode (RBM) peaks in the Raman spectra were observed at the Raman shifts of $113.3{\sim}281.3\;cm^{-1}$, implying the presence of SWCNTs (or double-walled CNTs) with the tube diameters 2.07~0.83 nm. The Raman spectra of the as-grown SWCNTs showed very low G/D peak intensity ratios, indicating their low defect concentrations.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.341-350
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• 2001

Aluminum Hydroxide was employed as a thermal retardent and flame retardent for Chloropolyethylene (CPE) rubbery materials which is the construction material of automotive oil cooler hose. and then cure characteristics, physical properties, thermal resistance and flame retardation of compounded rubber were investigated, and optimum mixing conditions of rubber and flame retarding agent were deduced from the experimental results. CPE rubber material which has excellent properties of chemical corrosion resistance and cold resistance and inexpensive in price was used to prepare rubber specimen. The by-product of ething, produced from the process of surface treatment of aluminum was processed to aluminum hydroxide via crushing and purification, which is characterized by XRD, PSA, SEM and ICP-AES techniques in terms of phase, size, distribution, morphology and components of particles and then mixed to CPE rubber materials in the range of 0~80 phr. Hardness, tensile strength, elongation and thermal properties of compounded rubber specimens were tested. The optimum mixing ratio of rubber to additives to give maximum effect on thermal resistance and flame retardation, within the range of tolerable specification for rubber materials, was determined to be 40 phr. The flame retardation of CPE rubber materials was found to be increased by 5 times at this mixing ratio.