• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.989-996
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• 2012

Nitrate contamination of water environments can create serious problems such as eutrophication of rivers. Conventional biological processes for nitrate removal by heterotrophic denitrification often need additional organic substrates as carbon sources and electron donors. We tried to accelerate biological denitrification by using bioelectrochemical reactor (BER) in which electrode works as an electron donor. Denitrification activity of 8 environmental samples from various sediments, soils, groundwaters, and sludges were tested to establish an efficient enrichment culture for BER. The established enrichment culture from a soil sample showed stable denitrification activity without any nitrite accumulation. Microbial community analysis by using PCR-DGGE method revealed that dominant denitrifiers in the enrichment culture were Pantoea sp., Cronobacter sakazakii, and Castellaniella defragrans. Denitrification rate ($0.08kg/m^3{\cdot}day$) of the enrichment culture in BER with electrode poised at -0.5 V (vs Ag/AgCl) was higher than that ($2.1{\times}10^{-2}kg/m^3{\cdot}day$) of BER without any poised potential. This results suggested that biological denitrification would be improved by supplying potential throughout electrode in BER. Further research using BER without any organic substrate addition is needed to apply this system for bioremediation of water and wastewater contaminated by nitrate.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.111-115
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• 2007

Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica) is a worldwide protozoan parasite causing a wide rage of intestinal disease in human, including asymptomatic cyst carriage, acute diarrhea, fulminant dysentery, and chronic nondysenteric colitis. Extraintestinal amebiasis such as hepatic abscess also occurs. Spread of the infection occurs due to consumption of food and water that is contaminated with the cyst. Amebiasis is rarely reported in the newborn period. We report a case of a 6-day-old female newborn with watery diarrhea that progressed to bloody mucoid diarrhea with persistent fever. The fresh stool microscopic examination disclosed E. histolytica trophozoites. She was born of spontaneous vaginal delivery at 41 weeks of gestation after premature rupture of membrane. She was given breast-feeding after birth, then entered postpartum care center. Her mother's stool microscopic examination showed negative result. Infection might have occurred from giving sweetened water following birth or contamination of the baby's bottles at the postpartum care center. She was treated with oral metronidazole for 24 days.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.753-770
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• 2017

The coagulation or flocculation of cohesive clay suspensions is one of the most widely used treatment technologies for contaminated water. Flocculated clay can transport pollutants and nutrients in ground water. Coagulants are used to accelerate these mechanisms. However, existing coagulants (e.g., polyacrylamide, polyaluminum chloride) are known to have harmful effects in the environment and on human health. As an alternative, eco-friendly coagulant, this study suggests ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$, a cationic biopolymer fermented by Streptomyces. A series of sedimentation experiments for various ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$ concentrations were performed, and the efficiency of sedimentation with ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$ was estimated by microscopic observation and light absorbance measurements. Two types of sedimentation were observed in the experiments: accumulation sedimentation (at 0.15%, 0.20%, 0.25% ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$) and flocculation sedimentation (at 0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0% ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$). These sedimentation types occur as a result of the concentration of counter ions. Additionally, the performance of ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$ was compared with that of a previously used environmentally friendly coagulant, chitosan. The obtained results indicate that flocculation sedimentation is appropriate for contamination removal and that ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$ functions more efficiently for clay removal than chitosan. From the experiments and analysis, this paper finds that polylysine is an alternative eco-friendly coagulant for removing chemical contaminants in groundwater.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.425-430
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• 2017

This study was conducted to measure the antimicrobial activity and antiseptic effect of Smilax china root extracts against Propionibacterium acnes and to develop natural antimicrobial extracts as an alternative for synthetic preservatives, which have recently been controversial. Extracts were obtained from dried Korean Smilax china root at room temperature using two solvents, distilled water and 95% EeOH, separately. According to the results of this study, the antimicrobial effect of Propionibacterium acnes 3314 and Propionibacterium acnes 3320 against Propionibacterium acnes was outstanding. In particular, the clear zone of the extract using distilled water showed the highest activity with 16.61 mm. As for the result of the collection of contaminated skin sample, the clear zone was 24.48 mm. This indicates that Smilax china root extracts show a high activity against skin flora as well as a high antimicrobial activity against Propionibacterium acnes. In conclusion, it is confirmed that Smilax china root extracts can be used as raw materials for cosmetics that have antimicrobial activity and antiseptic effect, and it is expected that Smilax china root extracts will be used as basic materials for the development of future natural preservatives.

• International Journal of Ocean System Engineering
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2013

Reinforced concrete structures have been increasingly widely used in numerous industrial fields. These structures are often exposed to severely corrosive environments such as seawater, contaminated water, acid rain, and the seashore. Thus, the corrosion problems that occur with the steel bars embedded in concrete are very important from the safety and economic points of view. In this study, the effects of the cover thickness on the corrosion properties of reinforced steel bars embedded in multiple mortar test specimens immersed in seawater for 5 years were investigated using electrochemical methods such as the corrosion potentials, polarization curves, cyclic voltammograms, galvanostat, and potentiostat. The corrosion potentials shifted in the noble direction, and the value of the AC impedance also exhibited a higher value with increasing cover thickness. Furthermore, the polarization resistance increased with increasing cover thickness, which means that the oxide film that is deposited on the surface of a steel bar surrounded by alkali environment exhibits better corrosion resistance because the water, chloride ions and dissolved oxygen have difficulty penerating to the surface of the steel bar with increasing cover thickness. Consequently, it is considered that the corrosion resistance of reinforced steel can be improved by increasing the cover thickness. However, the corrosion resistance values of a steel bar estimated by measuring the corrosion potential, impedance and polarization resistance were not in good agreement with its corrosion resistance obtained by polarization curves.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.745-749
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• 1994

Animal experiments were conducted to confirm the suppressive effect of green tea on the intestinal absorption and tissue accumulation of toxic heavy metals in rats. When drinking water contaminated with 500 and 5000 times level of water quality standard for lead or cadmium was administrated to rats for 3 weeks, feed intake and body weight gain were not significantly differrent among all groups except for high cadmium group. In the relative weights of target organs, kidney and femur showed a significant difference by heavy metal administration and green tea did not influence on the weights. Green tea showed a suppressing effect on the accumulation of heavy metals in target organs, in which the reducing effect in femur was $25{\sim}45%$ for lead, and 42% for cadmium. As calcium content of femur decreased by heavy metal administration was increased in green tea group, it was concluded that heavy metal accumulation in femur was interrupted by tea beverage.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.926-933
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• 2010

Runoff from a parking lot can be highly contaminated nonpoint source due to the impermeability of rainwater. This study presented runoff characteristics of heavy metals especially Zn and Pb from a parking lot during total 17 rain events. Monitoring results showed the first flush phenomenon within 30 min was observed in all rain events, but the event mean concentration (EMC) did not clearly show the characteristics of runoff. The ranges of Pb and Zn was $4{\sim}201{\mu}g/L$ and $131{\sim}672{\mu}g/L$, respectively, and the runoff mass of Zn and Pb was highly to related with the flow rate, and runoff coefficient of rain. The runoff mass of Zn was greater than that of Pb in all events. The runoff mass of Pb was highly correlated with the amount of TSS, and TSS and DOC were was related with the mass of Zn. This result implies that Pb and Zn are mainly existed in the particulate form. The results can be used to as meaningful data in the management of nonpoint source, and in the management in the runoff catchment in the parking lot.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.417-422
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• 2001

Sutfactants may be used in remediation of subsoil and aquifer contaminated with hydrophobic compounds. The objectives of this study were to select potentially suitable sUlfactants that solubilize toluene present as a contaminant and to determine the effectiveness of toluene removal from Ottawa sand by the selected surfactants. Material used as the model soil was Ottawa sand and the organic used as model contaminant was toluene. Used experimental methods were separatory funnel experiment and shaker table agitation/centrifugation experiments. Based on the experimental results, the following conclusions were drawn; t) In the surfactant selection, six different surfactants were chosen based on surfactant types, toxicity, and water solubility. These six were focused into two on the basis of HLB and surface tension study, separatory funnel experiment, shaker table and centrifugation experiments. The two most suitable surfactants were Sandopan JA36 (an anionic surfactant), and Pluronic L44 (a non-ionic surfactant). 2) In the shaker table agitation and centrifugation experiments, the highest recovery of the toluene was 96% which was obtained with one surfactant wash plus two water rinses using an anionic surfactant (Sandopan JA36).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.246-252
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• 2016

In this study, conceptual design of the fore-body hull form of catamaran type dredging vessel was performed that can effectively remove the contaminated sediments in coastal seabed. The hull form was simpled for the easy hull construction and the resistance performance was investigated to find out the effect of hull form parameters between variation of waterline and angle of entrance, etc. The relation between resistance performance and characteristics of free surface flows according to variation of bow forms was investigated by model testing in the circulating water channel and using Ansys CFX. The improvement of ship resistance performance to the wave resistance decrease due to improved wave pattern has been verified according to move the stem and the volume of the shoulder to the fore part of the vessel.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.35-37
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• 2001

This study has investigated the chemical characteristics and the contamination of groundwater in relation to land use in Daejeon Metropolitan City. An attempt was made to distinguish anthrophogenic inputs from the influence of natural chemical weathering on the chemical composition of groundwater at Taejon. Groundwater samples collected at 170 locations in the Taejon area show very variable chemical composition of groundwater, e.9. electrical conductance ranges from 65 to 1,290 S/cm. Most groundwater is weakly acidic and the groundwater chemistry is more influenced by land use and urbanization than by aquifer rock type. Most of groundwater from green areas and new town residential districts has low electrical conductance, and is of Ca-HC $O_3$ type, whereas the chemical composition of groundwater from the old downtown and industrial district is shifted towards a Ca-Cl (N $O_3$+S $O_4$) type with high electrical conductance. A number of groundwater samples in the urbanized area are contaminated by high nitrate and chlorine, and exhibit high hardness. The Ep$CO_2$, that is the $CO_2$ content of a water sample relative to pure water, was computed to obtain more insight into the origin of $CO_2$ and bicarbonate in the groundwater. Factor analysis of the chemical data shows that the HC $O_3$ and N $O_3$ concentrations have the highest factor loadings on factor 1 and factor 2, respectively. Factors 1 and 2 represent major contributions from natural processes and human activities, respectively. The results of the factor analysis indicate that the levels of $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, N $a^{+}$, Cl and SO4$^2$ derive from both pollution sources and natural weathering reactions.ons.