• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.551-562
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of negatively electric field on bone healing in rabbit segmental long bone defects using negatively charged PTFE membrane. Ten millimeter segmental defects in the rabbit radius were used as the experimental model. After membranes were then charge injected using a corona-charging apparatus, the left defects were covered with non charged PTFE membranes as control groups, whereas the right defect was covered with negatively charged PTFE membranes as test group. The animals were divided into 4 groups of 2 rabbits each, and sacrificed at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. Histomorphometric analysis showed a more newly formed bone in negatively charged membrane at early healing period. At 2 weeks, the proportion of new bone formation to total defect area was 0.32% in control group, 1.10% in experimental group. At 4 weeks, the proportion of new bone formation to total defect area was 6.86% in control, and 13.75% in experimental. At 6 and 8 weeks, no obvious difference was found between the two groups but newly formed bone in test groups were slightly more than that in control groups. In conclusion, negatively charged membranes showed more newly bone tissue than noncharged membranes at an early healing period. Although the number of samples was small, this study showed that the combination of negatively electrical stimulation and P1FE membrane may be of value in long bone healing.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.529-539
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• 1998

The effects of membrane surface charge originated from lipid head groups on ion channels were tested by analyzing the activity of single large conductance $Ca^{2+}-activated\;K^+$ (maxi K) channel from rat skeletal muscle. The conductances and open-state probability ($P_o$) of single maxi K channels were compared in three types of planar lipid bilayers formed from a neutral phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) or two negatively-charged phospholipids, phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylinositol (PI). Under symmetrical KCl concentrations $(3{\sim}1,000\;mM)$, single channel conductances of maxi K channels in charged membranes were $1.1{\sim}1.7$ times larger than those in PE membranes, and the differences were more pronounced at the lower ionic strength. The average slope conductances at 100 mM KCl were $251{\pm}9.9$, $360{\pm}8.7$ and $356{\pm}12.4$ $(mean{\pm}SEM)$ pS in PE, PS and PI membranes respectively. The potentials at which $P_o$ was 1/2, appeared to have shifted left by 40 mV along voltage axis in the membranes formed with PS or PI. Such shift was consistently seen at pCa 5, 4.5, 4 and 3.5. Estimation of the effect of surface charge from these data indicated that maxi K channels sensed the surface potentials at a distance of $8{\sim}9\;{\AA}$ from the membrane surface. In addition, similar insulation distance ($7{\sim}9\;{\AA}$) of channel mouth from the bilayer surface charge was predicted by a 3-barrier-2-site model of energy profile for the permeation of $K^+$ ions. In conclusion, despite the differences in structure and fluidity of phospholipids in bilayers, the activities of maxi K channels in two charged membranes composed of PS or PI were strikingly similar and larger than those in bilayers of PE. These results suggest that the enhancement of conductance and $P_o$ of maxi channels is mostly due to negative charges in the phospholipid head groups.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.7-10
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• 2004

Reversed micelles (RMs) are nanometer-scale molecular assemblies in organic media. Their surface films (membranes) are composed of surfactant molecules normally holding two hydrocarbon hydrophobic chains. Di-2-ethylhexyl sulfosuccinate (AOT), which is a negatively charged molecule, is most popular surfactant utilized to form reversed micelles.(omitted)

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2006

In this study, five commercially available fouling resistant low-pressure RO membranes were investigated for the treatment of seasonally brackish surface water with high organic content (${\approx}24mg/L$). The membranes investigated are LFC-1 (Hydranautics), X20 (Trisep), BW30FR1 (FilmTec), SG (Osmonics), and BE-FR (Saehan). The results of surface characterization revealed that each of these membranes has one or two unique surface characteristics to minimize the adherence of the fouling materials to the membrane. Specifically, the LFC1 membrane features a neutral or low negative surface to minimize electrostatic interactions with charged foulants. The X20, on the other hand, shows a highly negatively charged surface, and thus, is expected to perform well with feed waters containing negatively charged organics and colloids. The BW30FR1 exhibits a relatively neutral and hydrophilic surface, which could be beneficial for lessening organic and/or biofouling. The SG membrane has a smooth surface that makes it quite resistant to fouling, particularly for colloidal deposition. Lastly, BE-FR membrane demonstrated a medium surface charge and a slightly higher hydrophobicity. In the pilot study, all of the four membranes experienced a gradual increase in MTC (water mass transfer coefficient or specific flux) over time, indicating no fouling occurred during the pilot study. The deterioration of permeate water quality such as TDS was also observed over time, suggesting that the integrity of the membranes was compromised by the monochloramine used for biofouling control.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.559-567
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• 2013

In recent years, NF (nanofiltration) membrane has been receiving great attention for hardness removal and has begun to replace traditional lime soda ash softening process, particularly in Florida, USA, mainly due to less sludge production and easy operation. This study aimed to provide detailed surface characteristics of various commercial NF membranes by performing sophisticated surface analysis, which would help more fundamentally understand the performance of NF membranes. More specifically, a total of 7 NF membranes from top NF/RO manufacturers in the world were examined for basic performance tests, surface analysis, and fouling potential assessment. The results demonstrated that NF membranes are classified into two groups in terms of surface zeta potential; they are highly negatively charged ones, and neutral and/or less negatively charged ones. Their hydrophobicities, measured by contact angle, varied from hydrophilic to slightly hydrophobic ones. The AFM measurements showed various surface roughness, ranging from 23 nm (smooth) to 162 nm (rough) of average peak height. Lab-scale fouling experiments were performed using feedwater obtained from conventional water treatment plants in the province of Korea, and their results attempted to correlate to surface characteristics of NF membranes. However, unlike typical RO membranes, no clear correlation was found in this study, indicating that fouling mechanisms of NF membrane may be different from those of typical RO membranes, and both cake deposition and pore blocking mechanisms should be considered simultaneously.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.56-59
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• 2000

The surface charge properties of a polymeric NF and a ceramic UF membranes were characterized in terms of zeta potential and acidity. Both the negative zeta potential and acidity values increased as pH increases due to ionizable acidic functional groups. Increased ionic strength reduced the acidity of the negatively-charged membrane surface as anticipated. Through these results, it can be envisioned are used to reject solutes with ionizable functional groups. Fouling of the negatively-charged membrane with natural organic matter (NOM) having a negative charge density was also investigated with respect to the surface charge. The surface charge of the NF membrane increased negatively when greater NOM adsorption onto the membrane surface occured.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 2005

The poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-based thin film composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes were prepared by coating polysulfone ultrafiltration membranes, sulfonated polyethersulfone and polyamide NF membranes with aqueous PVA solution by a pressurizing method. The PVA was cross-linked with aqueous glutaraldehyde solution. The NF membranes coated with a very low concentration of PVA on all the support membranes was successfully prepared. With increasing the hydrophilicity of the support membranes, the water flux increased. Especially, ζ-potential of negatively charged polyamide NF membrane was reduced by coating the membrane with PVA. A fouling experiment was carried out with positively charged surfactant, humic acid, complex of humic acid and calcium ion and bovine serum albumin. A non-coated polyamide NF membrane was significantly fouled by various foulants. The fouling process when using humic acid and protein occurred at the isoelectric point. There was severe fouling when using humic acid and adding bivalent cations. By coating the polyamide NF membrane with aqueous PVA solution, fouling was reduced. The polyamide NF membrane coated with PVA was resistant to the acidic and basic solution.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2013

After an outbreak of viral disease in an aquafarm, release of virus (es) from infected fish into environmental seawater has been suspected. In the present study, we utilized a negatively charged membrane (HA type) as an efficient method for concentration and detection of fish pathogenic viruses, specifically, megalocytivirus and viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) present in field-collected seawater samples or inoculated into seawater artificially. Positively charged viruses adsorbed onto the negatively charged membrane and were eluted with 1 mM NaOH (pH 10.5) following rinsing with 0.5 mM $H_2SO_4$ (pH 3.0). Megalocytivirus and VHSV particles isolated using anegatively charged HA membrane from seawater inoculated with each virus at a concentration of 10 viral particles/mL were of sufficient quantity to show positive results in atwo-step PCR (or RT two-step PCR); however, despite it being negatively charged, a cellulose acetate (CA) membraneshowed negative results. In quantitative PCR, the detection limits of the HA membrane for megalocytivirus and VHSV in seawater were 1.20E+00 viral particles/mL and 1.22E+01 viralparticles/mL, respectively. The calculated mean recovery yields from 1 L seawater spiked with known concentrations of megalocytivirus and VHSV particles were 28.11% and 23.00%, respectively. The concentrate of a 1-L sample of culturing seawater from the aquatank of flounder suffering from VHSV showed clear positive results in PCR when isolated with an HA, but not a CA, membrane. Thus, viral isolation using an HA membrane is a practical and reliable method for detection of fish pathogenic viruses in seawater.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.157-174
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• 2013

The present study is devoted to the validation of a new method for in line electrokinetic characterisation of deposits on membrane surfaces. This method is based upon simultaneous measurements of transversal streaming potential and permeates flux at constant pressure before and during the deposit formation. Dead-end filtration experiments were conducted with negative flat membranes forming a narrow slit channel, negative hollow fiber membranes and mono-dispersed suspensions of (negatively charged) polystyrene latex and (positively charged) melamine particles at various concentrations. It was observed that the overall streaming potential coefficient increased in absolute value with the deposited latex quantity, whereas it decreased and changed of sign during the filtration of melamine suspensions. By considering a resistance-in-series model, the streaming potential coefficient of the single deposit ($SP_d$) was deduced from the electrokinetic and hydraulic measurements. The independence of $SP_d$ with respect to growth kinetics validates the measurement method and the reliability of the proposed procedure for calculating $SP_d$. It was found that $SP_d$ levelled off much more quickly when filtration was performed through the slit channel. This different behaviour could result from a non-uniform distribution of the deposit thickness along the membrane given that the position of measuring electrodes is different between the two cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.880-888
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• 2006

Pleurocidin, an $\alpha$-helical cationic antimicrobial peptide, was isolated from skin mucosa of winter flounder (Pleuronectes americamus). It had strong antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, but had very weak hemolytic activity. The Gly$^{13,17}\rightarrow$Ala analog (pleurocidin-AA) showed similar antibacterial activities, but had dramatically increased hemolytic activity. The bacterial cell selectivity of pleurocidin was confirmed through the membrane-disrupting and membrane-binding affinities using dye leakage, tryptophan fluorescence blue shift, and tryptophan quenching experiments. However, the non-cell-selective antimicrobial peptide, pleurocidin-AA, interacts strongly with both negatively charged and zwitterionic phospholipid membranes, the latter of which are the major constituents of the outer leaflet of erythrocytes. Circular dihroism spectra showed that pleurocidin-AA has much higher contents of $\alpha$-helical conformation than pleurocidin. The tertiary structure determined by NMR spectroscopy showed that pleurocidin has a flexible. structure between the long helix from $Gly^3$ to $Gly^{17}$ and the short helix from $Gly^{17}$ to $Leu^{25}$. Cell-selective antimicrobial peptide pleurocidin interacts strongly with negatively charged phospholipid membranes, which mimic bacterial membranes. Structural flexibility between the two helices may play a key role in bacterial cell selectivity of pleurocidin.