• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 2009

Cobalt-rich manganese crusts on seamounts have received an increasing amount of attention as future resources for Co, Ni, Cu, and Mn. A dearth of detailed information regarding the relevant distribution characteristics, mining technologies, and ore processing technologies, however, has precluded potential evaluations of the technical and economic advantages of these crusts. In the past 4 years, Korea has undertaken a survey of the cobalt-rich manganese crusts in and around the Magellan Seamount and Mid-Pacific Mountains. This paper introduces the preliminary feasibility study of the distribution features and R&D results centered around the development of the cobalt-rich manganese crusts. The evaluation model was developed by modifying the model for the manganese nodules. In addition to considering the geological and geophysical differences between the manganese nodules and the cobalt-rich manganese crusts, an ore dressing subsystem was installed in the model. The mining subsystem is composed of a self-propelled collector--a pipeline with submersible hydraulic pumps for crust lifting. The smelting and chlorine leach method was selected for metallurgical processing. The production scales were established at 2,500t/y of cobalt metal. The production of three metals--cobalt, nickel, and copper--was considered in terms of metallurgical processing. The economic feasibility analyses demonstrated that the payback period was 11.4 years, the NPV was 36M$, and the IRR was 9.6% with the economic factors in the case of a cobalt price of US$ 25/lb. It was also demonstrated in this study that the payback period was 8.6 years, the NPV was 154M$, and the IRR was 14.0% in the case of a cobalt price of US$ 30/lb. This indicates that the approach under consideration appears to offer greater potential given the predicted metal prices.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.243-247
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• 2008

The hemolysin of Vibrio cholerae non-O1 CT isolated from sea water was purified and characterized. The purified hemolysin displayed an optimum at $37^{\circ}C$ and exhibited more than 70% of residual hemolytic activity after incubation at $45^{\circ}C$ for 120 min. However, the activity dropped dramatically at temperature above $55^{\circ}C$. The purified protein showed the highest hemolytic activity at pH 7.0, while the activity was completely lost outside of the pH ranges of 5.0 and 10.0. The activity of hemolysin was inactivated by addition of divalent cations, such as $Cu^{2+},\;Fe^{2+},\;Hg^{2+},\;Mn^{2+},\;and\;Zn^{2+}$, however, the activity was not completely inhibited by additions of $Ca^{2+},\;Mg^{2+},\;K^+,\;Na^+,\;and\;Li^+$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.663-669
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• 2008

The solvent-tolerant bacterium Enterobacter sp. VKGH12 is capable of utilizing n-butanol and contains an $NAD^+$-dependent n-butanol dehydrogenase (BDH). The BDH from n-butanol-grown Enterobacter sp. was purified from a cell-free extract (soluble fraction) to near homogeneity using a 3-step procedure. The BDH was purified 15.37-fold with a recovery of only 10.51, and the molecular mass estimated to be 38 kDa. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant ($K_m$) for the BDH was found to be 4 mM with respect to n-butanol. The BDH also had a broad range of substrate specificity, including primary alcohols, secondary alcohols, and aromatic alcohols, and exhibited an optimal activity at pH 9.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. Among the metal ions studied, $Mg^{2+}$ and $Mn^{2+}$ had no effect, whereas $Cu^{2+},\;Zn^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ at 1 mM completely inhibited the BDH activity. The BDH activity was not inhibited by PMSF, suggesting that serine is not involved in the catalytic site. The known metal ion chelator EDTA had no effect on the BDH activity. Thus, in addition to its physiological significance, some features of the enzyme, such as its activity at an alkaline pH and broad range of substrate specificity, including primary and secondary alcohols, are attractive for application to the enzymatic conversion of alcohols.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.199-206
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• 2006

Various heavy metals have been known for causing ischemic stroke. In order to describe the causative relationship between the blood levels of various heavy metals and stroke patients, 116 patients with stroke and 111 patients without stroke were selected from one Oriental medical hospital in Wonju, Korea. Total of 9 kinds of metals such as As, Cd, Co, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn were analyzed in blood from patients with and without stroke. There were no significant differences in the means of metal concentrations between the stroke and nonstroke patients except for the mean of Co concentration. In the case of Co, the means for stroke and non-stroke patients were 0.44 ug/l and 0.40 ug/l showing a significant difference at the level of p-value=0.05. The odds ratios for each metal ranged from 0.96 to 2.86. Most odds ratios were not significant but the odds ratio for Co, $2.86{\pm}1.49$ was significant, indicating that Co increases the risk of stroke by 2.86 times. In order to identify the specific risk level of stroke increased by a multiple interaction of metals, regression coefficients and odds ratio for a pair or multiple pair of metals were reanalyzed. However, all of regression coefficients and odds ratios were not significant. In conclusion, Co showed the significant level in blood from patients with stroke. In addition, the odds ratio of stroke was significantly different from other metals. Thus, it is considered that Co among various metals analyzed in this study is the important metal for increasing the risk of stroke.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2003

Seasonal fluctuations of physico-chemical and biological aspects of the environment were studied in Vladivostok harbour (Golden Horn Bay, the East Sea/Sea of Japan). The benthic community structure was described with a focus on size-spectra (bacteria, meio- and macrofauna) related with the chemical environment and chemical fluxes in sediment and to reveal their possible ecological role in the process of bioremediation of the environment. Samples from two sites with different concentrations of heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb, Mn, Cr, Ni Cd, Co) and petroleum hydrocarbon were assessed by a number of methods. These included plate counts of culturable bacteria, observation through a scanning electron (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). These approaches were complemented with microscopic assessments of the diversity of the benthic community. The specific communities had a limited number of species, tolerant to abnormally high levels of toxic compounds. The dominant species were presented by several sho.1-lived small polychaetes (Capitella capitata) and nematodes (Oncholaimium ramosum). The highest population density was recorded in microbenthos, in various diatoms, various physiological groups of bacteria which participate in biomineralization: marine heterotrophic bacteria, which oxidized oil, black oil in addition to groups resistant to heavy metals. They have the entire set of mechanisms for neutralizing the negative effect of those compounds, forming the detrital food web and biogeochemical circulation of material in sediments, which results in the biological self-recycling of sea basins. Macro- and meiobenthic organisms were more sensitive to a greater extent of $H_2S$ and petroleum hydrocarbons than to metal content, but the within-site rankings were the same as those achieved for microbiological analyses.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1555-1563
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• 2008

A novel $\alpha$-amylase ($\alpha$-1,4-$\alpha$-D-glucan glucanohydrolase, E.C. 3.2.1.1), ScAmy43, was found in the culture medium of the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum grown on oats flour. Purified to homogeneity, ScAmy43 appeared as a 43 kDa monomeric enzyme, as estimated by SDS-PAGE and Superdex 75 gel filtration. The MALDI peptide mass fingerprint of ScAmy43 tryptic digest as well as internal sequence analyses indicate that the enzyme has an original primary structure when compared with other fungal a-amylases. However, the sequence of the 12 N-terminal residues is homologous with those of Aspergillus awamori and Aspergillus kawachii amylases, suggesting that the new enzyme belongs to the same GH13 glycosyl hydrolase family. Assayed with soluble starch as substrate, this enzyme displayed optimal activity at pH 4 and $55^{\circ}C$ with an apparent $K_m$ value of 1.66 mg/ml and $V_{max}$ of 0.1${\mu}mol$glucose $min^{-1}$ $ml^{-1}$. ScAmy43 activity was strongly inhibited by $Cu^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, and $Ba^{2+}$, moderately by $Fe^{2+}$, and was only weakly affected by $Ca^{2+}$ addition. However, since EDTA and EGTA did not inhibit ScAmy43 activity, this enzyme is probably not a metalloprotein. DTT and $\beta$-mercaptoethanol strongly increased the enzyme activity. Starting with soluble starch as substrate, the end products were mainly maltotriose, suggesting for this enzyme an endo action.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.3223-3228
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• 2011

To quantify the presence of mercuric ions in aqueous solution, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) of poly(dT) was employed using a light switch compound, $Ru(phen)_2(dppz)^{2+}$ (1) which is reported to intercalate into dsDNA of a right-handed B-form. Addition of mercuric ions induced the dehybridization of poly(dT)${\cdot}$poly(dA) duplexes to form a hairpin structure of poly(dT) at room temperature and the metal-to-ligand charge transfer emission derived from the intercalation of 1 was reduced due to the dehybridization of dsDNA. As the concentration of $Hg^{2+}$ was increased, the emission of 1 progressively decreased. This label-free emission method had a detection limit of 0.2 nM. Other metal ions, such as $K^+$, $Ag^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, $Co^{2+}$, $Ni^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Cd^{2+}$, $Cr^{3+}$, $Fe^{3+}$, had no significant effect on reducing emission. This emission method can differentiate matched and mismatched poly(dT) sequences based on the emission intensity of dsDNA.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.276-280
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• 2017

This study was carried out to evaluate the developed microstructures and mechanical properties of friction welded A6063 alloy. For this work, specimens were prepared at a size of 12 mm ${\O}{\times}80mm$, and friction welding was carried out at a rotation speed of 2,000 RPM, friction pressure of $12kgf/cm^2$ and upset pressure of $25kgf/cm^2$. To perform an analysis of the grain boundary characteristic distributions, such as the grain size, orientation and misorientation angle distributions, the electron back-scattering diffraction method was used. In addition, in order to identify the dispersed intermetallic compounds of the base and welded materials, transmission electron microscopy was used. The experimental results found that the application of friction welding on A6063 led to significant grain refinement of the welded zone relative to that of the base material. Besides this, intermetallic compounds such as AlMnSi and $Al_2Cu$ were found to be dispersed with more refined size relative to that of the base material. This formation retains the mechanical properties of the welds, which results in the fracture aspect at the base material zone. Therefore, based on the developed microstructures and mechanical properties, the application of friction welding on A6063 could be used to obtain a sound weld zone.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.230-236
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• 1993

The isocitrate lyase extracted from Micrococcus luteus was purified 38.8 folds with the overall yield of 10.2%, by the ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-cellulose, 1st Sephadex G-200 and 2nd Sephadex G-200 column chromatography. The purified enzyme showed to be a single protein band by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated 60,000 by the SDS-polyacry]amide gel electrophoresis. The apparent Michaelis constant, Km value for isocitrate was 0.95 mM. The optimum pH and temperature of the purified enzyme were pH 7.5 and $40^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme was activated by $Mg^{2+}$ and inhibited by $Mn^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$ and $CO^{2+}$. In addition, the activity of isocitrate lyase was increased by glutathione and 2-mercaptocthanol at 5 mM and cysteine at I mM.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.451-458
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• 2011

The medicinal mushroom Inonotus obliquus is a traditional and widely used multi-functional fungus. In this study, we have investigated whether Inonotus obliquus (Chaga mushroom) extracts exerts anti-oxidant effects on cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in auditory cell line, HEI-OC1 cells. First of all, Chaga extracts has no harmful effects on viability of HEI-OC1 cells in the dose range of $65{\sim}125{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. Moreover, it shows cyto-protective effects on the cells treated with cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in HEI-OC1 cells and the damage of hair cells arrays of the rat primary organ of Corti explants in the presence of cisplatin. Pretreatment with Chaga extracts inhibited the cell death, reactive oxygen species generation (ROS), lipid peroxidation induced by cisplatin. These effects were associated with the induction of antioxidant enzyme by Chaga extracts. We further investigated the effects of Chaga extracts on expression of antioxidant enzymes such as Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD 1) and Mn SOD (SOD 2) by RT-PCR. In addition, Chaga extracts shows SOD activity and SOD protein expression in cisplatin treated group induced similar to control group. Taken together, these results indicate that Chaga extracts can prevent cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity by radical-scavenging activity (SOD activity) in HEI-OC1 cells. It might be an effective as antioxidant and further studies on the chemo-preventive mechanisms of Inonotus obliquus are needed.