• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.02a
• /
• pp.476-476
• /
• 2012

Although plasma is an efficient means of microbial sterilization, mechanism of plasma effect on microorganisms still needs to be clarified. In addition, a limited number of studies are available on eukaryotic microorganisms such as yeast and fungi in relation to plasma application. Thus, we investigated cellular and molecular aspects of plasma effects on a filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa by making use of argon plasma jet at atmospheric pressure. The viability and cell morphology of N. crassa spores exposed to plasma were both significantly reduced depending on the exposure time when treated in water. The intracellular genomic DNA content was dramatically reduced in fungal tissues after a plasma treatment and the transcription factor tah-3 was found to be required for fungal tolerance to a harsh plasma environment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.382-392
• /
• 2018

Objective: Allergic diseases such as asthma due to fungal exposure in houses have increased, and proper management is urgent. Mold can grow in the air, floor, walls, and other areas according to environmental conditions, and there are many limitations to the conventional methodology for examining fungal exposure. For this reason, the degree of fungal contamination is being evaluated by ERMI (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index), a quantitative analysis method proposed by the EPA. In this study, we compared ERMI values between water-damaged dwellings and non-damaged ones to evaluate the effectiveness of Korean ERMI values. We also explored the association of ERMI values with the level of airborne mold and characteristics of dwellings. Methods: Floor dust was collected after installing a Dustream collector on the suction port of a vacuum cleaner. The collected samples were filtered to remove only 5 mg of dust, and DNA was extracted using the FastDNA SPIN KIT protocol. Results: The ERMI values were found to be 19.6 (-6.9-58.8) for flooded houses, 7.5 (-29.2-48.3) for leaks/condensation, and 0.8 (-29.2-37.9) for non-damaged dwellings. The airborne concentration of mold for flooded, leakage or condensed, and non-damaged houses were $684CFU/m^3$, $566CFU/m^3$, and $378CFU/m^3$, respectively. The correlation between ERMI values and the levels of airborne mold was low (R = 0.038), but a weakly significant association of the ERMI values with the concentration of particulate matter ($PM_{10}$) was observed as well(R=0.231,P<0.05). Conclusions: Our findings show that the reference value using ERMI can be used to distinguish water-damaged and non-damaged dwellings. It is believed that ERMI values could be a promising tool for assessing long-term fungal exposure in dwellings.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.374.2-374.2
• /
• 2016

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere are harmful materials which influence indoor air environment and human health. Titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) is photocatalyst extensively used in degradation of organic compound. To improve the photocatalytic activity in the visible light region, doping with non-metals element or loading noble metals on the surface of $TiO_2$ is generally proposed. In this study, N- doped $TiO_2$ having photocatalytic activity in visible light region was attached noble metal such as Pt, Ag, Pd, Au by coupling method. Catalytic activities of Noble metal coupled $N-TiO_2$ powders were evaluated by the improvement of their photocatalytic activities and the degradation of VOC gas. A UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used to measure the diffuse reflectance spectra of coupled $N-TiO_2$ sample. The photocatlytic activities of as prepared samples were characterized by the decoloration of aqueous MB solution under Xenon light source (UV and visible light). To measure of decomposition VOCs, ethylbenzene was selected for target VOC material and the concentration was monitored under UVLED irradiation in a closed chamber system. Adjusting the initial concentration of 10~12 ppm, to evaluate the removal characteristics by using the coupled $N-TiO_2$.

• Plant Journal
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.36-42
• /
• 2019

In recent, according to the tightening of environment regulation policy, the height of the site of the power plant is increased and the length of the cooling water pipe is increased. This has a serious impact on the stability of the plant. This study analyzes the transient phenomenon using LIQT 7.2, an unsteady state one-dimensional analysis software, to secure the stability of 1,000 MW high-capacity coal-fired power plant cooling water system with high head. To prevent water hammer, The effects on performance characteristics were predicted by individual and combination application. The surge pressure of the cooling water which occurs when the pump was stopped without installing the anti-surge devices was the largest at the pump outlet side. The most effective and simple way to reduce surge pressure in these cooling water systems is to combine a vacuum breaker with a hydraulic non-return valve, which is an essential device for pump protection.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.190.1-190.1
• /
• 2016

One of the most serious problems faced by billions of people today is the availability of fresh water. According to statistics, 15% of the world's total output of dye products is discharged into the environment as dye wastewater, which seriously pollutes groundwater resources. For the treatment of chemically and biologically contaminated water the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) shows the promising action. The main advantage with AOPs is the ability to degrade the organic pollutants to $CO_2$ and $H_2O$. For this degradation process the AOPs generation of powerful and non-selective radicals that may oxidize majority of the organic pollutants present in the water body. To generate the various reactive chemical species such as radicals (${\bullet}OH$, ${\bullet}H$, ${\bullet}O$, ${\bullet}HO_2$) and molecular species ($H_2O_2$, $H_2$, $O_2$) in large amount in water, we have used the atmospheric pressure plasma. Among the reactive and non-reactive species, the hydroxyl radical (${\bullet}OH$) plays important role due to its higher oxidation potential (E0: 2.8 V). Therefore, in this work we have checked the degradation of various dyes such as methyl orange, methylene blue and congo red using different type of atmospheric pressure plasma sources (Indirect jet and direct jet). To check the degradation we have used the UV-visible spectroscopy, HPLC and LC-MS spectroscopy. Further, to estimate role of ${\bullet}OH$ on the degradation of dyes we have studied the molecular dynamic simulation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.277.2-277.2
• /
• 2013

Petri dishes and glass slides have been widely used as general substrates for in vitro mammalian cell cultures due to their culture viability, optical transparency, experimental convenience, and relatively low cost. Despite the aforementioned benefit, however, the flat two-dimensional substrates exhibit limited capability in terms of realistically mimicking cellular polarization, intercellular interaction, and differentiation in the non-physiological culture environment. Here, we report a protocol of culturing embryonic rat hippocampal neurons on the electro-spun polymeric network and the results from examination of neuronal cell behavior and network formation on this culture platform. A combinatorial method of laser-scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy and live-cell imaging technique was employed to track axonal outgrowth and synaptic connectivity of the neuronal cells deposited on this model culture environment. The present microfiber-based scaffold supports the prolonged viability of three-dimensionally-formed neuronal networks and their microscopic geometric parameters (i.e., microfiber diameter) strongly influence the axonal outgrowth and synaptic connection pattern. These results implies that electro-spun fiber scaffolds with fine control over surface chemistry and nano/microscopic geometry may be used as an economic and general platform for three-dimensional mammalian culture systems, particularly, neuronal lineage and other network forming cell lines.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.19-32
• /
• 2004

Not only consumers but also corporations need to use and develop sustainable consumption for environmental preservation these days. This research studied the level of environmental consciousness, knowledge of environmental problems and consumption behavior for environmentally sustainable home electrical goods. This study was conducted by survey method and the sample was 300 housewives aged 20-50 living in Seoul and urban areas in 2003. The consciousness for the environment and seriousness of theenvironmental problems were very high. Nevertheless, the level of consumption behavior for environmentally sustainable goods was lower than the consciousness. Of the total sample, 33% were aware of the ultrasonic-waves-sink, 73% of the non-detergent-wash machine, 50% of the vacuum-without-trash envelope, and only 17% of the micro-oven-zero air power. Over 50% of the sample wanted to buy these environmentally sustainable, home electrical goods, especially working housewives.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Applied Superconductivity and Cryogenics Conference
• /
• 2000.02a
• /
• pp.180-184
• /
• 2000

The dymanic properties of the high-Tc superconductor journal bearings used in the KEPRI flywheel energy storage system was experimentally estimated by using the imbalance excitation method. The test reveals that the superconductor bearings have very low stiffness compared to that of typical oil film bearings with similar geometry and almost the same amount of damping as in roller bearings, which may not be helpful for the system to pass through the critical speeds. However, it was found out that the cross-coupled stiffness and damping terms were almost negligible so that the system could be more stable than the one using lil film bearings. Also with proper design of the rotor-bearing system and accurate balancing of the rotor, the high-Tc superconductor bearing is one of the most viable alternatives to the conventional ones due to its oil-free, non-contact running capability in a vacuum environment, which is literally essential for highly efficient flywheel energy storage systems.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.473-478
• /
• 2012

In this paper, the air bubble formation mechanism in the rectangular and triangular line-and-space pattern during dispensing UV Nanoimprint Lithography (UV-NIL) at an atmospheric condition is studied. To investigate the air bubble formation, an analytic model based on geometric approach and a numerical model based on CFD(computational fluid dynamics) were used in the analysis. It was found in the numerical analysis that every time the flow front passed through a corner of the pattern, it proceeded with a newly formed shape, occurring due to interface reconfiguration, since the flow fronts were formed such that they minimized the surface energy. Moreover, the conditions for the air bubble formation were investigated by applying the analytic analysis based on geometric approach and the numerical analysis. Good overall agreement was found between the analytic and numerical analysis.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.51-61
• /
• 1997

The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of Pumping-and-Treatment system (PTS) for remediation of the saturated zones contaminated with NAPLs. A simulation is carried out for the removal of DNAPLs (denser-than-water non-aqueous phase liquids) and LNAPLS (lighter-than-water non-aqueous phase liquids) distributing at and below the water table. In the study, LNAPL and DNAPL are assumed to be n-hexane and 1,1-dichloroacetone, respectively. The model system studied consists of four heterogeneous soil layers with different permeabilities. Groundwater flows through the bottom layer and a pumping well is located under the initial water table. The time-driven deformation of the water table and removal efficiency of contaminants are estimated after vacuum application to the inlet of the well. In the calculation, FVM (Finite Volumetric Method) with SIMPLEC algorithm is applied. Results show that removal efficiencies of both DNAPL and LNAPL are negligible for the first 5 days after the PTS operation. However, when the cone-shape water table is formed around the inlet of the pumping well, the rapid removal rate is obtained since NAPLs migrate rapidly through the curvature of the water table. The removal efficiency of DNAPL is estimated to be higher than that of LNAPL due to the gravity. The results also show that the fluctuation or cone-shaped depression of the water table enhances the removal efficiency of NAPLs in saturated zones. The simulation results could provide a basis of the PTS design for the removal of NAPLs in saturated zones.