• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.627-635
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• 2019

Cement-asbestos slate is the main asbestos containing material. It is a product made by combining 10~20% of asbestos and cement components. Man- and weathering-induced degradation of the cement-asbestos slates makes them a source of dispersion of asbestos fibres and represents a priority cause of concern. When the asbestos enters the human body, it causes cellular damage or deformation, and is not discharged well in vitro, and has been proven to cause diseases such as lung cancer, asbestos, malignant mesothelioma and pleural thickening. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has designated asbestos as a group 1 carcinogen. Currently, most of these slats are disposed in a designated landfill, but the landfill capacity is approaching its limit, and there is a potential risk of exposure to the external environment even if it is land-filled. Therefore, this study aimed to exam the possibility of detoxification of asbestos-containing slate by using exothermic reaction and heat treatment. Cement-asbestos slate from the asbestos removal site was used for this experiment. Exothermic catalysts such as calcium chloride(CaCl₂), magnesium chloride(MgCl₂), sodium hydroxide(NaOH), sodium silicate(Na₂SiO₃), kaolin[Al₂Si₂O₅(OH)₄)], and talc[Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂] were used. Six catalysts were applied to the cement-asbestos slate, respectively and then analyzed using TG-DTA. Based on the TG-DTA results, the heat treatment temperature for cement-asbestos slate transformation was determined at 750℃. XRD, SEM-EDS and TEM-EDS analyses were performed on the samples after the six catalysts applied to the slate and heat-treated at 750℃ for 2 hours. It was confirmed that chrysotile[Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH₅)] in the cement-asbestos slate was transformed into forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄) by catalysts and heat treatment. In addition, the change in the shape of minerals was observed by applying a physical force to the slate and the heat treated slate after coating catalysts. As a result, the chrysotile in the cement-asbestos slate maintained fibrous form, but the cement-asbestos slate after heat treatment of applying catalyst was broken into non-fibrous form. Therefore, this study shows the possibility to safely verify the complete transformation of asbestos minerals in this catalyst- and temperature-induced process.

• Clean Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.123-128
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• 2005

Among various metal oxides semiconductors, $TiO_2$ is the most studied semiconductor for environmental clean-up applications due to its unique ability in photocatalyzing various organic contaminants, its chemical inertness, and nontoxicity. $TiO_2$, however, has a few drawbacks to be solved such as reactivity mainly working under ultraviolet irradiation (${\lambda}$ < 387 nm) and electron - hole recombination on $TiO_2$. In this study, to extend the absorption range of $TiO_2$ into the visible range and enhance electron - hole separation, we synthesized platinum (Pt) deposited $C-TiO_2$. The presence of Pt as an electron sink has been known to snhance the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and induce the thermal decomposition. The characterization of as-synthesized $Pt-C-TiO_2$ was performed by Transmission Electron Microscopic (TEM), the Brunuer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), UV-vis spectrometer (UV-DRS), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). In order to estimate the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized materials, the photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). In order to estimate the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized materials, the photodegradation experiment of an azo dye (Acid Red 44; $C_{10}H_7N=NC_{10}H_3(SO_3Na)_2OH$)was carried out by using an Xe arc lamp (300 W, Oriel). A 420 nm cut-off filter was used for visible light irradiation. From the results, Pt-deposited $C-TiO_2$ showed a far superior phothdegradation activity to Degussa P25, the commercial product under the irradiation of visible light and enhanced photocatalytic activity of visible-working $C-TiO_2$. This is a useful result into the application for the purification system of dye wastewater using visible energy of sun light.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2014

The objectives of this study were to characterize the physicochemical properties and mineralogy of Hwangto (yellow residual soils) from the southwestern part of Korea and to understand the soil-forming processes of the residual soils from their parent rocks. Both the yellowish residual soils as well as the unweathered and weathered parent rocks were obtained from Jangdong-ri, Donggang-myun, Naju, Jeollanam-do, Korea. The soil samples were examined to analyze the said soil's physicochemical properties such as color, pH, and particle size distribution. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were performed in order to understand the mineralogy, chemical composition, and morphology of the soils. Two thin sections of a parent rock were analyzed to study its mineral composition. A particle size analysis of the soils indicates that the residual soil consists of mainly silt and clay (approximately 95%) and that soil textures are silty clay or silt clay loam. The soil colors of the residual soil are dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) through yellowish red (5YR 4/6). The pH of the residual soil ranges from 4.3 to 5.1. The major minerals of the parent rocks were quartz, biotite, chlorite, and plagioclase. The mineralogy of the sand fraction of the residual soil was quartz, biotite, muscovite and sanidine. The mineralogy of the silt fraction of the residual soil was quartz, biotite, muscovite, Na-feldspar, K-feldspar, and sanidine. The clay mineralogy of the soil was goethite, kaolinite, ilite, hydroxy-interlayed vermiculite(HIV), vermiculite, mica, K-feldspar and quartz. The mineral composition of the residual soil and the parent rock indicates that feldspar and mica in the parent rock weathered into illite, vermiculite and hydroxy-interlayed vermiculite(HIV), and finally changed into kaolinite and halloysite in the yellowish residual soils.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.561-574
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• 2000

Poly-P has been used to prevent decomposition of foods and has been shown to have inhibitory effect on the growth of gram positive bacteria. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of poly-P on the growth of Porphyromonas endodontalis, a gram negative obligate anaerobic rod, endodontopathic bacterium. P. endodontalis ATCC 35406 was in BHI broth containing hemin and vitamin K with or without poly-P. Inhibitory effect of each poly-P which was added at the beginning(lag phase) or during(exponential phase) the culture, MIC(minimum inhibitory concentration) was determined by measuring the optical density of the bacterial cell at 540nm. Viable cell counts were measured to determined whether poly-P has a bactericidal effect. Leakage of intracellular nucleotides from P. endodontalis was determined at 260nm and morphological change of P. endodontalis was observed under the TEM(transmission electron microscope). Binding of 32P-labeled poly-P to P. endodontalis was examined. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and zymography were performed to observe the changes in protein and enzyme profiles of P. endodontalis, respectively. The results from this study were as follows : 1. The minimal inhibitory concentration(MIC) of poly-P to P. endodontalis appeared to be 0.04~0.05%. 2. Poly-P added to the P. endodontalis culture during the exponential phase of P. endodontalis was as much effective as poly-P added at the begining of the culture, suggesting that the antibacterial effect of poly-P is not much dependent on the initial inoculum size of P. endodontalis. 3. Poly-P are bactericidal to P. endodontalis, demonstrating the decrease of the viable cell counts. 4. Intracellular nucleotide release from the P. endodontalis, was not increased in the presence of poly-P and was not reversed by the addition of divalent cations like $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2-}$. 5. Under the TEM, it was observed that fine electro-dense materials were prominent in the poly-P grown P. endodontalis, appearing locally in the cell, and the materials were more abundant and more dispersed in the cell as the incubation time with poly-P increased. In addition, highly electron dense granules accumulated in many poly-P grown cells, most of which were atypical in their shape. 6. Binding of 32P-labeled poly-P to P. endodontalis appeared to be 32.8 and 45.5 and 53.4% at 30 minutes, 1 hours and 2 hours, respectively. 7. In the presence of poly-P. the synthesis of proteins with apparent molecular masses of 25, 27, 35, 45 was lost or drastically decreased whereas expression of a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 75 was elevated. 8. Proteolytic activity of P. endodontalis was decreased by poly-P. The overall results suggest that use of poly-P may affect the growth of P. endodontalis, and the anti-bacterial activity of poly-P seems largely bactericidal. Changes in shape, protein expression, and proteolytic activity of P. endodontalis by poly-P may be directly and indirectly attributed to the antibacterial effect of poly-P. Further studies will be needed to confirm the effect of poly-P.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.77-88
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• 2016

Chrysotile is a 1:1 sheet silicate mineral belonging to serpentine group. It has been highlighted studies because of uses, shapes and structural characteristics of the fibrous chrysotile. However, it was designated as Class 1 carcinogen, so high attentions were being placed on detoxification studies of chrysotile. The objectives of this study were to investigate changes of mineralogical characteristics of chrysotile and to suggest detoxification mechanism of chrysotile by thermal decomposition. Samples for this study were obtained from LAB Chrysotile mine in Canada. The samples were heated in air in the range of 600 to $1,300^{\circ}C$. Changes of mineralogical characteristics such as crystal structure, shape, and chemical composition of the chrysotile fibers were examined by TG-DTA, XRD, FT-IR, TEM-EDS and SEM-EDS analyses. As a result of thermal decomposition, the fibrous chrysotile having hollow tube structure was dehydroxylated at $600-650^{\circ}C$ and transformed to disordered chrysotile by removal of OH at the octahedral sheet (MgOH) (Dehydroxylation 1). Upon increasing temperature, it was transformed to forsterite ($Mg_2SiO_4$) at $820^{\circ}C$ by rearrangement of Mg, Si and O (Dehydroxylation 2). In addition, crystal structure of forsterite had begun to transform at $800^{\circ}C$, and gradually grown 3-dimensionally to enstatite ($MgSiO_3$) by recrystallization after the heating above $1,100^{\circ}C$. And then finally transformed to spherical minerals. This study showed chrysotile structure was collapsed about $600-700^{\circ}C$ by dehydroxylation. And then the fibrous chrysotile was transformed to forsterite and enstatite, as non-hazardous minerals. Therefore, this study indicates heat treatment can be used to detoxification of chrysotile.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.121-128
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• 2005

It has been known that ras signaling transduction leads to cell proliferation and migration including various adaptor molecules. Dynamin protein has been implicated in the formation of nascent vesicles in both the endocytic and secretory pathways. Dynamin was classified into three isoforms: dynamin I is only expressed in neuronal tissue, dynamin II is expressed ubiquitously in all tissue but that of dynamin III is confined to testis. We have reported in previous study that Grb2, binding to ras, was associated with dynamin II in NIH3T3 cells. Therefore we have tried to identify the relative expression of dynamin II according to overexpressed ras protein in ras oncogene transfected cells (NIH3T3 (ras)). For the detection of differential expression of dynamin II, we have used immunofluorescent staining and western blot methods in NIH3T3 and NIH3T3 (ras) cells. Next we have described the morphological differences between NIH3T3 and NIH3T3 (ras) cells using SEM and TEM. From these experiments dynamin II was highly expressed in NIH3T3 (ras) cells. NIH3T3 cells was transformed to more spindle shape with many cell process by transfection of ras oncogene. Moreover dynamin II was more concentrated in endocytotic membrane of the NIH3T3 (ras) cells compared to that of NIH3T3 cells. The present results suggested that dynamin II may involve the intermediate messenger in Ras signaling transduction pathway.

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.198-205
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• 2018

This study investigated the influence of catalyst preparation on the activity of $Co-CeO_2$ catalyst for $N_2O$ decomposition. $Co-CeO_2$ catalysts were synthesized by co-precipitation and incipient wetness impregnation. In order to estimate the performance of the as prepared catalysts, direct catalytic $N_2O$ decomposition test was carried out under $250{\sim}375^{\circ}C$. As a result, the catalyst prepared by co-precipitation (CoCe-CP) showed an enhanced performance on $N_2O$ decomposition reaction even in the presence of $O_2$ and/or $H_2O$, whereas the impregnation catalyst (CoCe-IM) did not. In order to investigate the difference in catalytic activity, characterization such as XRD, BET, TEM, $H_2-TPR$, $O_2-TPD$, and XPS was conducted. It is confirmed that the particle size and specific surface area were changed depending on the catalyst preparation method and the synthesis process influenced the physical properties of the catalysts. In addition, the improvement in the activity of the catalyst prepared by co-precipitation is due to the enhanced reduction from $Co^{3+}$ to $Co^{2+}$ and the improved oxygen desorption rate. However, it has been confirmed that the surface electron state and binding energy, which are related to $N_2O$ decomposition, do not change depending on the preparation method.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2000

This study was designed to identify the ultrastructural changes of mouse endometrium during peri-implantation period and obtain the fundamental information for the establishment of 3-dimensional culture system of mouse endometrial cells in vitro. The used female ICR mice ($6{\sim}8$ wks) were conducted on pregnant. The biopsies were obtained from whole uterus at cycle day 1 (D1) and day 5 (D5) after hCG injection and mating. The biopsies materials were fixed 2.5% glutaraldehyde and 1% osmium tetroxide. Subsequently, for observation using light and transmission electron microscopy (LM and TEM), they were dehydrated and embedded in Epon and the embedded biopsies were sectioned and stained. For scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the fixed specimens were dehydrated, dried and coated with gold. 1) For LM, the biopsied materials at D5 (late secretory phase) were appeared the extended stromal layer by increased connective tissues and the fully developed endometrial glands and vessels compared with D1 (early secretory phase). 2) For TEM, the mouse endometrium was consisted of 3-layers, a simple polarized columnar epithelial cells, basement membrane and stromal cells. At D5, the distribution of microvilli, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi body, lipid and glycogen deposits, secretory granules and surface area of basement membrane were increased. 3) For SEM, the degree of folding and microvilli of surface of mouse epithelial cells was became more and more according to the process of secretory phase, and at D5, implantation time of mouse, the appearance of pinopodes as a specific marker of uterine receptivity was found. The uterine pinopodes of mouse were found in narrow sites at the luminal surface, irregularity and appeared the different stages in the same sample. Therefore, these results indicated that the mouse endometrium was experienced dramatic morphological changes during peri-implantation period.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.205-214
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• 2020

Cyanobacteria are microorganisms which have important roles in the nitrogen cycle due to their ability to fix nitrogen in water and soil ecosystems. They also produce valuable materials that may be used in various industries. However, some species of cyanobacteria may limit the use of water resources by causing harmful algal blooms in water ecosystems. Many culture collection depositories provide cyanobacterial strains for research, but their systematic preservation is not well-developed in Korea. In this study, we developed a method for the cryopreservation of the cyanobacteria Trichormus variabilis (syn. Anabaena variabilis), using alginate microcapsules. Two approaches were used for the experiments and their outputs were compared. One of the methods involved the cryopreservation of cells using only a cryoprotectant and the other used the cryoprotectant within microcapsules. After cryopreservation for 35 days, cells preserved with both methods were successfully regenerated from the initial 1.0 × 10⁵ cells/ml to a final concentration of 6.7 × 10⁶ cells/ml and 1.1 × 10⁷ cells/ml. Irregular T. variabilis shapes were found after 14 days of regeneration. T. variabilis internal structures were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), revealing that lipid droplets were reduced after cryopreservation. The expression of the mreB gene, known to be related to cell morphology, was downregulated (54.7%) after cryopreservation. Cryopreservation using cryoprotectant alone or with microcapsules is expected to be applicable to other filamentous cyanobacteria in the future.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2016

The objectives of this study were to recover silica and iron oxides and $CO_2$ sequestration using serpentine via various acid dissolution and pH swing processes. Serpentine collected from Guhang-myeon in S. Korea were mainly composed of antigorite and magnetite consisting of $SiO_2$ (45.3 wt.%), MgO (41.3 wt.%), $Fe_2O_3$ (12.2 wt.%). Serpentine pulverized ($${\leq_-}75{\mu}m$$) and then dissolved in 3 different acids, HCl, $H_2SO_4$, $HNO_3$. Residues treated with acidic solution were recovered from the solution (step 1). And then the residual solution containing dissolved serpentine was titrated using $NH_4OH$. And pH of the solution increased up to pH=8.6 to obtain reddish precipitates (step 2). After recovery of the precipitates, the residual solution reacted with $CO_2$ and then pH increased up to pH=9.5 to precipitate white materials (step 3). The mineralogical characteristics of the original sample and harvested precipitates were examined by XRD, and TEM-EDS analyses. ICP-AES analysis was also used to investigate solution chemistry. The dissolved ions were Mg, Si, and Fe. The antigorite became noncrystralline silica after acid treatment (step 1). The precipitate at pH=8.6 was mainly amorphous iron oxide, of which size ranged from 2 to 10 nm and mainly consisting of Fe, O, and Si (step 2). At pH=9.5, nesquehonite [$Mg(HCO_3)(OH){\cdot}2(H_2O)$] and lasfordite [$MgCO_3{\cdot}H_2O$] were formed after reaction with $CO_2$ (step 3). The size of carbonated minerals was ranged from 1 to $6{\mu}m$. These results indicated that the acid treatment of serpentine and pH swing processes for the serpentine can be used for synthesis of other materials such as silica, iron oxides and magnesium carbonate. Also, This process may be useful for the precursor synthesis and $CO_2$ sequestration via mineral carbonation.