• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.1253-1261
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• 2000

Natural organic matter (NOM) which occurs ubiquitously in both surface and ground waters, consists of both humic (i.e., humic and fulvic acids) and nonhumic components. NOM in general as well as certain constituents are problematic in water treatment. From a regulatory perspective, concerns focus upon the role of NOM constituents as disinfection byproduct (DBP) precursors. The fractionation of NOM through water treatment processes can provide insight into treatment process selection and applicability. Problematic NOM fractions can be targeted for removal or transformation. Significant source-related differences in NOM were observed among various source waters. This study found that bulk Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) concentration was hardly removed by oxidation process. Oxidation transformed high Molecular Weight (MW) hydrophobic fraction into low MW hydrophilic fraction. Ozone reduced s-pecific Ultraviolet Absorbance (SUVA) value more than chlorine. High MW hydrophobic fraction was effectively removed by coagulation process. About 50% of Trihalomethane Formation Potential (THMFP) was removed by coagulation process.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2011

Cloning and characterization of the gene encoding a solvent-tolerant protease from the haloalkaliphilic bacterium Geomicrobium sp. EMB2 are described. Primers designed based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified EMB2 protease helped in the amplification of a 1,505-bp open reading frame that had a coding potential of a 42.7-kDa polypeptide. The deduced EMB2 protein contained a 35.4-kDa mature protein of 311 residues, with a high proportion of acidic amino acid residues. Phylogenetic analysis placed the EMB2 gene close to a known serine protease from Bacillus clausii KSM-K16. Primary sequence analysis indicated a hydrophobic inclination of the protein; and the 3D structure modeling elucidated a relatively higher percentage of small (glycine, alanine, and valine) and borderline (serine and threonine) hydrophobic residues on its surface. The structure analysis also highlighted enrichment of acidic residues at the cost of basic residues. The study indicated that solvent and salt stabilities in Geomicrobium sp. protease may be accorded to different structural features; that is, the presence of a number of small hydrophobic amino acid residues on the surface and a higher content of acidic amino acid residues, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.72-77
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• 2004

Laboratory studies were carried out to find out the characteristics of humic acid treatment by activated carbon and ionized gas, In order to increase oxidation power of ionized gas for treating organic matter, we used granular activated carbon. By using $UV_{254}$, easy analysis method, we calculated humic acid concentration and $SCOD_{cr}$ concentration. For an initial concentration of humic acid, 10, 50 and 100ppm, the reaction rate constant by $UV_{254}$ was $8.98{\times}10^{-3}$/min, $5.62{\times}10^{-3}$/min and $4.8{\times}10^{-3}$/min respectively due to the same flow rate of ionized gas. When we added activated carbon to the ionized gas for humic acid treatment, the reaction rate constant increased in 4.13, 3.65 and 3.15 times. So, by using activated carbon in treating humic acid by ionized gas, oxidation power of organic matter by ionized gas was increased. The hydrophobic fraction constitutes 98% of organic matter for humic acid at the beginning. After the treatment using ionized gas for humic acid, the hydrophobic fraction decreased by 63~65% and the hydrophilic one increased by 35~37%. So, it was proved that the treatment increased the hydrophilic fraction in organic matter.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.34-36
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• 1982

N-Methacryloyl-L-histidine and N-methacryloyl-L-histidine methyl ester were synthesized and polymerized to obtain polymeric catalysts with different functions. In the presence of each of these polymers the solvolytic reactions of p-nitrophenyl acetate (PNPA), 3-nitro-4-acetoxybenzoic acid(NABA), 3-acetoxy-N-trimethylanilinium iodide(ANTI) and 3-nitro-4-decanoyloxybenzoic acid(NDBA) were performed in 20% aqueous ethanol. For the purpose of comparison the low molecular weight analogs(LMWA's), L-histidine, L-histidine methyl ester and N-acetyl-L-histidine were also subjected to catalyze the solvolyses of above substrates. In the solvolysis of PNPA the polymeric catalysts exhibited lower activities than the LMWA's. However the ionic substrates, NABA and ANTI were solvolyzed at anomalous rate by polymeric catalyst, indicating that electrostatic effects are operative in the catalysis by polymers. Furthermore in the solvolysis of hydrophobic monomer NDBA, polymeric catalysts exhibited highly enhanced activities compared with the LMWA's implying that hydrophobic interaction can be the most important contribution to the high catalytic activity of imidazole-containing polymers.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.225-232
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• 2009

The ratio of saccharification and formation of furans during the acid hydrolysis of agar with oxalic acid and sulfuric acid were examined base on the contents of the agar and acids. The ratio of saccharification in oxalic acid appeared to be 51~59% somewhat higher than 49~61% of sulfuric acid. Formation of the furans during the acid hydrolysis increased proportional to the contents of agar and acid. The relative formation ratio was high 10~47% for furfural (FUR) and 15~29% for hydroxy-methyl furfural (HMF) in 0.5~1.25% sulfuric acid rather than those of oxalic acid. When comparing the removal efficiency of the furans using an alkali treatment, steam stripping and hydrophobic resins, FUR was eliminated 60% by the alkali treatment, 62~90% by steam stripping and 71~75% by Amberlite XAD4 and 7HP, while HMF was removed to low levels of 10.5%, 4~17% and 13~25%, respectively. The loss of reducing sugar was also observed in process of the removal of furans, and the loss rate was the level of 2~4% in alkali treatment, 11~16% in steam stripping and 7~9% in Amberlite resins.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.305-310
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• 2003

Hydrophobic core variant of ubiquitin appeared to have partially folded structure at pH around 2. The intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence emission maximum of this ubiquitin variant at pH 2 showed slight blue shift compare to that of unfolded state, suggesting that some residual tertiary structures remain in this solvent condition. At the same solvent condition, this ubiquitin variant binds with hydrophobic dye, 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid(AMS), which is known to bind to exposed hydrophobic surface. Furthermore, far-UV circular dichroic spectrum of this ubiquitin variant in the diminished pH was remarkably different from the far-UV CD spectrum of the native state or unfolded state. Based on the molar ellipticity at 220 nm, this ubiquitin variant at pH 2 appeared to have significant amount of secondary structures. All these observations suggest that this ubiquitin variant in the diminished solvent pH has loosely folded hydrophobic core with some secondary structures, which are key features of molten globule conformation. Since molten globule has long been considered as a protein folding intermediate, it is considered that this hydrophobic core variant ubiquitin will serve as a valuable model to study protein folding process.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.561-565
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• 2008

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural glycosaminoglycan and is used widely in the pharmaceutical field. Lipoic acid (LA) helps the regeneration of exogenous and endogenous antioxidants such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E as well as glutathione. It also acts as antioxidant indirectly. Hydrophilic HA as a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer was conjugated with hydrophobic LA as an antioxidant to form the graft copolymer. The carboxyl group of HA was modified by adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH). The synthesis of HA-g-LA graft copolymers was characterized by FT-IR, $^1H$-NMR spectroscopy. The conjugates could form the self-assembled nanoparticles in aqueous solution. The particle size and critical aggregation concentration were verified to use the nanoparticle as a carrier fur the hydrophobic material.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.451-458
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• 2004

Water-soluble polyacrylamides hydrophobically modified with small amounts of N,N-dialkylacrylamides [N,N-dihexylacrylamide (DHAM) and N,N-dioctylacrylamide (DOAM)] have been prepared through free radical solution polymerizations using two hydrophobic initiators derived from 4,4' -azobis(4-cyanopentanoic acid) (ACVA) and long linear chains consisting of 12 and 16 carbon atoms (C12 and C16). This procedure resulted in polyacrylamides containing hydrophobic groups along the chain as well as at the chain ends. We compare the properties of this class of polymers, termed "combined associative polymers", with those of the multisticker (with hydrophobic groups along the polymer chain) and telechelic (with hydrophobic groups at the chain ends) associative polymers. These materials were prepared using DHAM or DOAM and a hydrophobic initiator (ACVA) modified with alkyl chains of two different lengths. Polymers having molecular weights (M$\_$w/) of ca. 175,000 and hydrophobic contents [H] of ca. 0.8 mol% were prepared using 0.07 mol% of initiator relative to the total monomer feed. We investigated the effects that the type, localization, and concentration of the hydrophobic groups have on the viscosities of the associative polymer solutions.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2002

The seasonal patterns of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in Lake Kasumigaura, a shallow, eutrophic lake, and serveral DOM sources in its catchment area were investigated. DOM was fractionated using three resin adsorbents into classes: aquatic humic substances (AHS=humic acid+fulvic acid), hydrophobic neutrals (HoN), hydrophilic acids (HiA), bases (BaS) and hydrophilic neutrals (HiN). The DOM produced significantly different fraction distributions depending on the origin of sample. AHS and HiA prevailed over AHS in the lake while AHS and HiA existed at almost the same concentration levels in the rivers. AHS seems to be a more dominant component in rever water than lake water. The dominance of organic acids was also observed in the DOM sources: forest stream (FS), plowed field percolate (PFP), domestic sewage (DS) and sewage treatment plant effluent (STPE).

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.455-460
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• 2012

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel has been studied as an important drug delivery system due to its volume transition or temperature-responsive swelling properties, whose phase separation temperature is similar to the body temperature. However, because of hydrophilic PNIPAM, hydrophobic drugs are difficult to be uniformly loaded in the networks. Antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid (LA) can be prepared as a polymer(polylipoic acid, PLA) by ring opening polymerization, which is hardly developed as a material due to its low molecular weight and easy depolymerization. To overcome this limitation, a hydrophobic active ingredient, LA was reacted with NIPAM into stable hydrogels. Simple thermal radical reaction successfully resulted in a hydrogel (PNIPAM/PLA), which was confirmed by DSC, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. The PNIPAM/PLA showed temperature-responsive properties, and their volume swelling decreased with an increase in lipoic acid content. These hydrogels can carry hydrophobic drugs with PNIPAM and the hydrogels could be useful as final drug delivery systems having lipoic acid as an antioxidant.