• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2017

This study investigated the effects of NaCl and jasmonic acid (JA) on the growth and physiological responses of spearmint (Mentha spicata L.). Spearmint was hydroponically grown for 3 weeks in modified Hoagland solution containing 0 (untreated control), JA ($20{\mu}M$ JA pretreatment), NaCl (50 mM NaCl treatment) and JA + NaCl ($20{\mu}M$ JA pretreatment + 50 mM NaCl treatment). Growth characteristics, chlorophyll, vitamin C, proline contents, DPPH scavenging activity and inorganic ion contents were evaluated. As a results, there were significant decreases in the plant height, leaf length, leaf width, and fresh weight of plants, treated with NaCl compared with control. On the other hand, the dry matters of shoot and root treated with JA + NaCl combination were better than control or NaCl treatment. Chlorophyll a and b contents in JA treatment was the highest. Vitamin C, antioxidant activity, and proline content in shoot were increased in NaCl treatment which showed low level of growth rate. The K/Na ratio, which is known to indirectly reflect the balance of ion uptake, was higher in a single treatment of JA than the control group, while lower in salt treatment (NaCl and JA + NaCl) because of high $Na^+$ absorption. In conclusion, these results showed that moderate stress treatment such as low level salt treatment and plant growth regulator jasmonic acid (JA) application would be potential strategies to improve the quality of spearmint by inducing the accumulation of secondary metabolites containing high antioxidant activity and essential oil.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.776-781
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• 2006

Perchlorate ion($ClO_4^-$), which is present in the solid propellant for rocket, herbicide and some fertilizers. Perchlorate inhibits iodide uptake by the human thyroid gland. Impairment of thyroid function in expectant mothers may impact the fetus and result in effects including cerebral palsy, give rise to thyroid gland cancer. The US EPA(Environmental Protection Agency) adopted a reference dose(RfD) for perchlorate 0.0007 mg/kg-day, and this guidance lead to a Drinking Water Equivalent Level(DWEL) of 24.5 ${\mu}g/L$. The studies about perchlorate are actively performed in foreign countries, especially in USA but there is no study which surveyed the perchlorate contamination in Korea. Therefore, this study was done to investigate perchlorate contamination in Nak-dong river and tap water. The perchlorate was detected in Nakdong river and ranged from ND to 278.4 ${\mu}g/L$. The highest concentration was observed in Kumichon. The perchlorate concentration was decreased with the down stream of Nakdong river. The perchlorate concentration in tap water was varied with the cities and the concentration levels were $ND{\sim}34.1$ ppb. The highest perchlorate concentration was observed in DalsuGoo in Daegu and the similar concentration($9{\sim}11$ ${\mu}g/L$) was detected in most of the districts in Busan. The result of this study suggests that there is a perchlorate source near the Nakdong river and the urgent policy is needed to control perchlorate for the cities which are supplied from Nakdong river as for their tap water.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2012

Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning. The nanofibrous membrane for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was fabricated by compression molding. The maximum degree of sulfonation was 95% and the initial thermal degradation temperature was $280^{\circ}C$ and it's value was lower than that of PEEK. The contact angle of SPEEK increased with decreasing the degree of sulfonation. The optimum voltage, flow rate, tip to collector distance (TCD) and concentration of electrospinning conditions were 22 kV, 0.3 mL/hr, 15 cm, and 23 wt%, respectively. The average nanofibrous diameter was 47.6 nm. The water uptake and ion exchange capacity of SPEEK nanofibrous membrane increased with increasing the sulfonation time and the amount of sulfonating agent. The electrical resistance and proton ionic conductivity of SPEEK membrane increased with decreasing and increasing the sulfonation time, respectively. Their values were 0.58~0.06 ${\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$and 0.099 S/cm.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2011

Partially fluorinated poly(arylene ether sulfone) block ionomer membranes with different branch degree for fuel cell applications were investigated. A sulfonable monomer, a non-sulfonable monomer and a trifunctional branching agent were synthesized and the sulfonable monomer was oligomerized to obtain block structures. The oligomer was then further polymerized with the non-sulfonable monomer and the branching agent. The mole ratio of oligomer : non-sulfonable monomer was fixed at 4:6 and the content of the branching agent was varied from 0 to 2 mol% (BBC-40Bx). Post-sulfonation of BBC-40Bx was carried out using chlorosulfonic acid (CSA) (SBBC-40Bx). All the synthesized compounds were characterized by $^1H$-NMR, $^{19}F$-NMR and FT-IR. It was confirmed that the ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake and ion conductivity of SBBC-40Bx increased with the increment of branching agent content.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2014

To investigate the solute pattern of salt marsh plants in Suncheon Bay in Korea, plants and soil samples were collected at three sites from July to September 2011. The soil pH around the investigated species was weakly alkaline, 6.9-8.1. The total ion and Cl- content of site 1 gradually increased, while those of site 2 and site 3 were lowest in August and highest in September. The exchangeable $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$ and $K^+$ in the soil were relatively constant during the study period, but the soil exchangeable $Na^+$ content was variable. Carex scabrifolia and Phragmites communis had constant leaf water content and very high concentrations of soluble carbohydrates during the study period. However, Suaeda malacosperma and S. japonica had high leaf water content and constant very low soluble carbohydrate concentrations. Carex scabrifolia accumulated similar amounts of $Na^+$ and $K^+$ ions in its leaves. Phragmites communis contained a high concentration of $K^+$ ions. Suada japonica and S. malacosperma had more $Na^+$ and $Cl^-$ ions than $K^+$ ions in their leaves. Suaeda japonica had higher levels of glycine betaine in its leaves under saline conditions than C. scabrifolia and P. communis. Consequently, the physiological characteristics of salt marsh chenopodiaceous plants (S. japonica and S. malacosperma) were the high storage capacity for inorganic ions (especially alkali cations and chloride) and accumulation of glycine betaine, but monocotyledonous plant species (C. scabrifolia and P. communis) showed high $K^+$concentrations, efficient regulation of ionic uptake, and accumulation of soluble carbohydrates. These characteristics might enable salt marsh plants to grow in saline habitats.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.13-13
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• 2015

Rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, is the most destructive pathogen of rice in the world. This fungus has a biotrophic phase early in infection and switches to a necrotrophic lifestyle after host cell death. During the biotrophic phase, the fungus competes with host for nutrients and oxygen. Continuous uptake of oxygen is essential for successful establishment of blast disease of this pathogen. Here, we report transcriptional responses of the fungus to oxygen limitation. Transcriptome analysis using RNA-Seq identified 1,047 up-regulated genes in response to hypoxia. Those genes were involved in mycelial development, sterol biosynthesis, and metal ion transport based on hierarchical GO terms and well-conserved among three different fungal species. In addition, null mutants of three hypoxia-responsive genes were generated and tested for their roles on fungal development and pathogenicity. The mutants for a sterol regulatory element-binding protein gene, MoSRE1, and C4 methyl sterol oxidase gene, ERG25, exhibited increased sensitivity to hypoxia-mimetic agent, increased conidiation, and delayed invasive growth within host cells, suggesting important roles in fungal development. However, such defects did not cause any significant decrease in disease severity. The other null mutant for alcohol dehydrogenase gene, MoADH1, showed no defect in the hypoxia-mimic condition and fungal development. Taken together, this comprehensive transcriptional profiling in response to a hypoxia condition with experimental validations would provide new insights on fungal development and pathogenicity in plant pathogenic fungi.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.149-154
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• 2017

We investigate the availability of $CO_2$ ocean storage by means of chemical conversion of $CO_2$ to the dissolved inorganic carbon (mainly the bicarbonate ion) in seawater. The accelerated weathering of limestone (AWL) technique, which is accelerating the natural $CO_2$ uptake process through the chemical conversion using limestone and seawater, was proposed as an alternative method for reducing energy-related $CO_2$ emission. The method presented in this paper is slightly different from the AWL method. It involves reacting $CO_2$ with seawater and quicklime obtained from alkaline wastes to produce the bicarbonate-rich solution over 100 times more than seawater, which could be released and diluted into the ocean. The released dense bicarbonate-enriched water mass could subside into the deeper layer because of the density flow, and could be sequestrated stably in the ocean.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.325-331
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• 2009

The synthesis and the characterization of crosslinked ABC triblock copolymer, i.e. polystyrene-b-poly (hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(styrene sulfonic acid), (PS-b-PHEMA-b-PSSA) is reported. PS-b-PHEMA-b-PSSA triblock copolymer at 20:10:70 wt% was sequentially synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The middle block was crosslinked by sulfosuccinic acid (SA) via the esterification reaction between -OH of PHEMA and -COOH of SA, as demonstrated by FTIR spectroscopy. As increasing amounts of SA, ion exchange capacity (IEC) continuously increased from 2.13 to 2.82 meq/g but water uptake decreased from 181.8 to 82.7%, resulting from the competitive effect between crosslinked structure and the increasing concentration of sulfonic acid group. A maximum proton conductivity of crosslinked triblock copolymer membrane at room temperature reached up to 0.198 S/cm at 3.8 w% of SA, which was more than two-fold higher than that of Nafion 117(0.08 S/cm). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis clearly showed that the PS-b-PHEMA-b-PSSA triblock copolymer is microphase-separated with a nanometer range and well developed to provide the connectivity of ionic PSSA domains. The membranes exhibited the good thermal properties up to $250^{\circ}C$ presumably resulting from the microphase-separated and crosslinked structure of the membranes, as revealed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.399-409
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• 1999

The three domestic natural zeolites(Yong dong-ri (Y), Daesin-ri (D), Seogdong-ri (S)) harvested in Kyeongju-shi and Pohang-shi, Kyungsangbug-Do, were pretreatd with each of the NaOH, $Ca(OH)_2$ and NaOH following HCl solutions, and the removal performances of divalent haevy metals(Cu, Mn, Pb, and Sr) for natural and pretreated zeolites were investigated and compared in the single and mixed solutions. The natural zeolite-heavy metal system attained the final equilibrium plateau within 20 min, irrespective of initial heavy metal concentration. The heavy metal uptakes increased with increasing initial heavy metal concentration and pH. The heavy metal uptakes for natural zeolites decreased in the following sequences : D>Y>S among the natural zeolites; Pb>Cu>Sr>Mn among the heavy metals. The pretreated zeolites showed higher heavy metal removal performances than natural zeolites and decreased in the order of NaOH, NaOH following HCl, $Ca(OH)_2$ treatment among the pretreatment methods. The heavy metal ion exchange capacity by natural and pretreated zeolites was described either by Freundlich equation or Langmuir equation, but it followed the former better than the latter. The heavy metal uptakes for natural zeolites decreased in the mixed solution, in comparing with those in the single solution and especially, the manganese uptake decreased greatly in the mixed solution. The pretreated zeolites showed the improved removal performances of heavy metals in the mixed solution than in the single solution and the heavy metal uptakes by those in the mixed solution showed the same trends in the single solution among the chemical treatment methods and heavy metals.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.122-127
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• 2001

4-tert-octylphenol (OP) is a surfactant additive widely used in the manufacture of a variety of detergents and plastic products. Also, OP is known to have estrogenic activity by interacting with development and functions of endocrine system. This study was carried out to obtain toxicokinetic parameters of OP in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Male rats were administered OP, by either single oral (gavage) applications of 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg body weight. or a single intravenous injections of 1, 5 or 10 mg/kg body weight. Blood samples taken at several time intervals after administration were obtained from the femoral artery. Analysis of blood samples for OP was performed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The detection limit of OP was 1.9 ng/$m\ell$ at SIM (selected ion monitoring) mode of GC/MS. Calibration curve for analysis of the concentrations of OP in plasma was (OP/butylphenol peak area ratio) = 0.0294 $\times$ (plasma cone.) + 0.028 ($r^2$= 0.9991). The OP plasma concentration was 3921 ng/$m\ell$ immediately after single intravenous application, decreased rapidly within 45 min, and was detectable at low concentration up to 6 hr after application. When administered orally in rats (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg), OP was detected in the blood early after gavage administration, indicating the rapid initial uptake from gastrointestinal tract, with Tmax obtained from 0.67~0.83 hr. Using the AUC (area under the curve) of plasma concentration vs. time, low oral bioavailabilities of 1.2, 5.0 and 5.3% were calculated for the 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg groups, respectively.