• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1656-1664
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• 2009

Bioaugmentation of bioreactors focuses on the removal of numerous organics, with little attention typically paid to the maintenance of high and stable nitrite accumulation in partial nitrification. In this study, a bioaugmented membrane bioreactor (MBR) inoculated with enriched ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was developed, and the effects of dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature on the stability of partial nitrification and microbial community structure, in particular on the nitrifying community, were evaluated. The results showed that DO and temperature played the most important roles in the stability of partial nitrification in the bioaugmented MBR. The optimal operation conditions were found at 2-3 mgDO/l and $30^{\circ}C$, achieving 95% ammonia oxidization efficiency and nitrite ratio ($NO_2^-/{NO_x}^-$) of 0.95. High DO (5-6 mg/l) and low temperature ($20^{\circ}C$) had negative impacts on nitrite accumulation, leading to nitrite ratio drop to 0.6. However, the nitrite ratio achieved in the bioaugmented MBR was higher than that in most previous literatures. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were used to provide an insight into the microbial community. It showed that Nitrosomonas-like species as the only detected AOB remained predominant in the bioaugmented MBR all the time, and coexisted with numerous heterotrophic bacteria. The heterotrophic bacteria responsible for mineralizing soluble microbial products (SMP) produced by nitrifiers belonged to the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) group, and $\alpha$-, $\beta$-, and $\gamma$- Proteobacteria. The fraction of AOB ranging from 77% to 54% was much higher than that of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (0.4-0.9%), which might be the primary cause for the high and stable nitrite accumulation in the bioaugmented MBR.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.631-640
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to compare analytical results of sand iron bars reproduced by the traditional iron-making method through a destructive analysis and a non-destructive analysis. For these studies, we produced two types of samples. One was sample(SI-A), a part of the sand iron bar for destructive analysis. The other was SI-B(9 ㎠) for non-destructive analysis. A metallurgical microscope and scanning electron microscope were used for the destructive analysis, and neutron imaging analysis with the Hokkaido University Neutron Source (HUNS) at Hokkaido University, Japan, was used for the non-destructive analysis. The results obtained by destructive analysis showed that there was ferrite and pearlite of fine crystallite size, and some of these showed Widmanstätten ferrite microstructure grown within the pearlite and coarse ferrite at the edge of the specimen. The results from the neutron imaging analysis showed that there was also ferrite and pearlite with 3 ㎛ α-Fe of BCC structure. Based on these results, neutron imaging analysis is capable of identifying material characteristics without destroying the object and obtaining optimal research results when applying it to objects of cultural heritage.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.58-63
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• 2002

New photodynamic herbicidal 2,3-dihydro-2,2,4,5,6-pentamethylbenzofuran-5-yl, (I) and 2,3-dihydro-2-ethyl-2,4,5,6-tetramethylbenzofuran-5-yl, (II) substituents in 6-benzofury-2-[1-( alkoxyimino )alkyl]-3 hydroxycyclohex-2-en-1-one derivatives were synthesized and their herbicidal activities against rice plant (Oryza sativa L.), barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) and pickerel weed (Monochoria vaginalis presl.) were measured under submerged pre and post-emergence conditions. Particularly, a series of (I) compounds showed good selective herbicidal activities between the 3 leaf stage of rice plant and barnyard grass at rates of $0.25{\sim}0.0007kg/ha$. The structure activity relationships (SAR) on the herbicidal activity with changing N-alkoxy groups were discussed quantitatively. According to the SAR results, it was expected that the selectivity factor between seed of rice plant and barnyard grass should be rely on the N-alkoxy groups with bigger dipole moment and bigger (or smaller) $B_3$ constant than optimal value $(B_3)_{opt.}=4.41{\AA}$. Compared with (I), the (II) substituents showed more superior herbicidal activities.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.730-738
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• 2016

est19 is a gene from Bacillus sp. K91 that encodes a new esterase. A comparison of the amino acid sequence showed that Est19 has typical Ser-Gly-Asn-His (SGNH) family motifs and could be grouped into the SGNH hydrolase family. The Est19 protein was functionally cloned, and expressed and purified from Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The enzyme activity was optimal at 60℃ and pH 9.0, and displayed esterase activity towards esters with short-chain acyl esters (C₂-C₆). A structural model of Est19 was constructed using phospholipase A1 from Streptomyces albidoflavus NA297 as a template. The structure showed an α/β-hydrolase fold and indicated the presence of the typical catalytic triad Ser49-Asp227-His230, which were further investigated by site-directed mutagenesis. To the best of our knowledge, Est19 is a new member of the SGNH hydrolase family identified from thermophiles, which may be applicable in the industrial production of semisynthetic β-lactam antibiotics after modification.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.124-132
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• 2017

Microbial secondary metabolites of marine organisms are regarded as major sources of structurally and biologically novel compounds with numerous potential uses. Sponge-microbe associations are among the most interesting sources for exploring bioactive compounds. In this study, the bacterial strain Microbulbifer sp. (127CP7-12) was isolated from the Asian marine sponge Hymeniacidon sinapium collected at an intertidal zone on the west coast of Korea. Cultured bacteria produced a violet pigment, and optimal culture conditions for violet pigment production were investigated. Maximum production of the violet pigment from the strain culture was observed under the conditions of $25^{\circ}C$, pH 6.0, and 3% NaCl. Acetone provided better extraction of the pigment from fermented broth compared with ethanol and methanol. The proposed structure of the major component in the extracted crude pigment was determined via high-performance liquid chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, and UV spectra analyses, which showed that the metabolite was the promising bioactive compound violacein. This study describes the examination of marine bioactive materials from microbe-engaged metabolites and the ecological implications of the sponge-microbe association in a changing ocean.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1413-1420
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• 2014

Phytate is an antinutritional factor that impacts the bioavailability of essential minerals such as $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ by forming insoluble mineral-phytate salts. These insoluble mineral-phytate salts are hydrolyzed rarely by monogastric animals, because they lack the hydrolyzing phytases and thus excrete the majority of them. The ${\beta}$-propeller phytases (BPPs) hydrolyze these insoluble mineral-phytate salts efficiently. In this study, we cloned a novel BPP gene from a marine Pseudomonas sp. This Pseudomonas BPP gene (PsBPP) had low sequence identity with other known phytases and contained an extra internal repeat domain (residues 24-279) and a typical BPP domain (residues 280-634) at the C-terminus. Structure-based sequence alignment suggested that the N-terminal repeat domain did not possess the active-site residues, whereas the C-terminal BPP domain contained multiple calcium-binding sites, which provide a favorable electrostatic environment for substrate binding and catalytic activity. Thus, we overexpressed the BPP domain from Pseudomonas sp. to potentially hydrolyze insoluble mineral-phytate salts. Purified recombinant PsBPP required $Ca^{2+}$ or $Fe^{2+}$ for phytase activity, indicating that PsBPP hydrolyzes insoluble $Fe^{2+}$-phytate or $Ca^{2+}$-phytate salts. The optimal temperature and pH for the hydrolysis of $Ca^{2+}$-phytate by PsBPP were $50^{\circ}C$ and 6.0, respectively. Biochemical and kinetic studies clearly showed that PsBPP efficiently hydrolyzed $Ca^{2+}$-phytate salts and yielded myo-inositol 2,4,6-trisphosphate and three phosphate groups as final products. Finally, we showed that PsBPP was highly effective for hydrolyzing rice bran with high phytate content. Taken together, our results suggest that PsBPP has great potential in the animal feed industry for reducing phytates.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.369-380
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• 2020

Most mono-crystalline silicon ingots are manufactured by the Czochralski (Cz) process. But If there are oxygen impurities, These Si-ingot tends to show low-efficiency when it is processed to be solar cell substrate. For making single-crystal Si- ingot, We need Czochralski (Cz) process which melts molten Si and then crystallizing it with seed of single-crystal Si. For melts poly Si-chunk and forming of single-crystalline Si-ingot, the heat transfer plays a main role in the structure of Cz-process. In this study to obtain high-quality Si ingot, the Cz-process was modified with the process design. The crystal growth simulation was employed with pulling rate and rotation speed optimization. Studies for modified Cz-process and the corresponding results have been discussed. The results revealed that using crystal growth simulation, we optimized the oxygen concentration of single crystal silicon by the optimal design of the pulling rate, rotation speed and melt charge level of Cz-process.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.44 no.9
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• pp.711-720
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• 2011

SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model was calibrated for the flow rate of the Deachung lake with a large area of 3108.29 $km^2$. Application of SWAT model requires significant number of input data and is prone to result in uncertainties due to errors in input data, model structure and model parameters. The SUFI-2 (Sequential Uncertainty Fitting Ver. 2) program and GLUE (Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation) program in SWAT-CUP (SWAT-Calibration and Uncertainty Program) are used to select the best parameters for SWAT model. Optimal combination of parameter values was determined through 2,000 iterative SWAT model runs. The Nash-Sutcliffe values and $R^2$ values were 0.87 and 0.89 respectively indicating both methods show good agreements with observed data successfully. RMSE and MSE values also showed similar results for both programs. It seems the SWAT-CUP has a great practical appeal for parameter optimization especially for large basin area and it also can be used for less experienced SWAT model users.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2006

Objective of this research was to evaluate optimal conditions of arsenic adsorption in water by zero-valent iron (ZVI). Batch experiment showed that adsorption of arsenic by ZVI followed a Langmuir isotherm model. The masses of As(V) adsorbed onto ZVI were increased as decreasing pH of the reacting solution (pH 3: 2.05, pH 5: 1.82, pH 7: 1.24, pH 9: 1.03 mg As/g $Fe^0$) and as increasing the temperature ($15^{\circ}C$ : 1.59, $25^{\circ}C$ : 1.81, 35 : $1.93^{\circ}C$ mg As/g $Fe^0$). The SEM and EDS (energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer) analysis of morphology and structure of ZVI before and after reacting with arsenic in water revealed that a relatively smooth and large surface of ZVI was transformed into a coarse and small surface particle after the reaction. The EDS spectra on the chemical composition of ZVI demonstrated that arsenic was incorporated into ZVI by adsorption mechanism. The XRD analysis also identified that the only peak for $Fe^0$ in the ZVI before the reaction and confirmed that $Fe^0$ was transformed into $Fe_2O_3$ and FeOOH, and As into $FeAsO_4{\cdot}2H_2O$.

• Composites Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.289-294
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• 2013

A thinner is used to improve the multi-walled carbon nano-tube (CNT) and carbon black (CB) dispersion in a polymer matrix and to make a soft electrode. The electrical and mechanical properties of the soft electrodes are investigated as functions of CNT, CB and thinner content. The optimal mixing condition for the electrode is thinner 80, CNT 3.5, CB 18 (phr) on the basis of matrix (KE-12). The specific resistance of that is 73 (${\Omega}{\cdot}cm$), and tensile strength, tensile modulus, and elongation of that is 0.45 MPa, 0.21 MPa, and 184%, respectively. Also, a simple structure of the actuator with an optimized electrode and elastomer is fabricated and its characteristic is evaluated. At the operating voltage 25 kV, the displacement of an elastomer KE-12 is 2.24 mm, and that of an elastomer KE-12 with thinner 50 (phr) is 4.05 mm. It shows a higher displacement compared to that of 3M 4910 which has similar modulus. The actuator made with elastomer and electrode of the same material (KE-12) may have advantages for fatigue life and application.