• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.173-187
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• 2015

The goal of present work is the preparation of a novel positively charged nanofiltration (NF) membrane and its development for the cation removal of aqueous solutions. This NF membrane was fabricated by the surface modification of polysulfone (PSf) ultrafiltration support. The active top-layer was formed by interfacial cross-linking polymerization of poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) with p-xylylene dichloride (XDC) and then quaternized with methyl iodide to form a perpetually positively charged layer. In order to improve the efficiency of nanofiltration membrane, the concentration of PEI, XDC and methyl iodide solutions, PEI coating and cross-linking time have been optimized. As a result, a high water flux and high $CaCl_2$ rejection (1,000 ppm) was obtained for the composite membrane with values of $18.29L/m^2.h$ and 93.62% at 4 bar and $25^{\circ}C$, respectively. The rejections of NF membrane for different salt solutions followed the order of $Na_2SO_4$ < $MgSO_4$ < NaCl < $CaCl_2$. Molecular weight of cut off (MWCO) was calculated via retaining of PEG solutions with different molecular weights that finally, it revealed the Stokes and hydrodynamic radius of 1.457 and 2.507 nm on the membrane selective layer, respectively. The most efficient positively charged nanofiltration membrane exhibited a $Ni^{2+}$ rejection of 96.26% for industrial wastewater from Shamse Hadaf Co. (Kashan, Iran).

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.105-110
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• 2022

Al₂O₃ positively charged nanofiltration composite membrane was successfully prepared with aluminate coupling agent (ACA) as modifier, sodium bisulfite (NaHSO₃) and potassium persulfate (K₂S₂O₈) as initiator and methacryloyloxyethyl trimethylammonium chloride (DMC) as crosslinking monomer. The surface of the membrane before grafting and after polymerization were characterized by SEM and FT-IR. Three factor and three-level orthogonal experiments were designed to explore the optimal conditions for membrane preparation, and the optimal group was successfully prepared. The filtration experiments of different salt solutions were carried out, and the retention molecular weight was determined by polyethylene glycol (PEG). The results showed that the polymerization temperature had the greatest effect on the rejection rate, followed by the reaction time, and the concentration of DMC had the least effect on the rejection rate. The rejection rates of CaCl₂, MgSO₄, NaCl and Na₂SO₄ in the optimal group were 83.8%, 81.3%, 28.1% and 23.6% (average value), respectively. The molecule weight cut-off of 90% (MWCO) of the optimal group was about 460, which belongs to nanofiltration membrane.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.46-46
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• 1999

Positively charged cytochrome c interacts with the negatively charged mitochondrial inner membrane. This interaction induces conformational changes in bound cytochrome c. In order to estimate the effect of cytochrome c-membrane interaction on the mitochondrial electron transfer, we have investigated oxidation of ferrocytochrom c in the presence of anionic phospholipids.(omitted)

• Membrane Journal
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.304-311
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• 2013

In fermentation-separation processes, nanofiltration membrane processes can be used to separate organic acid and other byproducts such as sugars and proteins. In this study, new nanofiltration membranes were prepared to improve organic acid permeability during the separation processes of fermentation broth. Positively charged nanofiltration membrane was introduced to reduce lactic acid rejection by electrostatic attraction between lactic acid and nanofiltration membrane. Newly fabricated nanofiltration membranes were prepared by grafting cationic polyelectrolyte, PEI, on membrane surface. Thenanofiltration membranes showed positively charged surface potential. As a result, lactic acid rejection was remarkably reduced while the rejection of glucose was not changed significantly.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2011

9Pbw2 is a 9-mer analog of protaetiamycine derived from the larvae of the beetle Protaetia brevitarsis. Previously, we designed four 9-mer peptide analogues to optimize the balance between the hydrophobicity and cationicity of the peptides and to increase bacterial cell selectivity. Among them, 9Pbw2 has high antibacterial activity without cytotoxicity. The results obtained in previous study suggest that the bactericidal action of 9Pbw2 may be attributed to the inhibition of the functions of intracellular components after penetration of the bacterial cell membrane. In order to understand structure-activity relationships, we determined the three-dimensional structure of 9Pbw2 in 200 mM DPC micelle by NMR spectroscopy. 9Pbw2 has one hydrophobic turn helix from $Trp^3$ to $Arg^8$ and positively charged residues at the N- and C-terminus. This result suggested that positively charged residues from position at the C-terminus in 9Pbw2 may be important for the primary binding to the negatively charged phospholipid head groups in bacterial cell membranes and hydrophobic residues in the middle portion face toward the acyl chains of the hydrophobic lipid in the bacterial cell membrane.

• 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.14 no.3
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• pp.121-128
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• 2023

This study introduces a NaOH/Zn-assisted hydrothermal method for the synthesis of zeolites derived from coal ash (CA). A zeolite/Zn adsorbent is successfully prepared by the activation of CA with NaOH and Zn; it is characterized by a high surface area and a negative surface charge.Methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) are selected as dye pollutants, and their adsorption onto the zeolite/Zn adsorbent is investigated. Results show the high adsorption capacities of MB and MO and that the negative surface charge facilitates electrostatic interactions between the adsorbates and adsorbents. The zeolite/Zn adsorbents shows the selective adsorption of positively charged dye MB via electrostatic interactions between the =NH+ group (positive dipole) and the oxygen functional group of the adsorbents (negative dipole). The selectivity for the positively charged dye is sufficiently high, with the removal efficiency reaching 99.41% within 10 min. By contrast, the negatively charged dye MO exhibits negligible absorption. These findings confirm the role of electrostatic interactions in the adsorption of MB, in addition to the effect of a large surface area. The results of this study are expected to facilitate the development of simple, eco-friendly, and cost-effective zeolite-based adsorptive composites from CA residuals for the selective removal of dye pollutants from CA waste.

• 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.

• 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.30 no.1
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• pp.109-117
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• 2020

Cre recombinase is widely used to manipulate DNA sequences for both in vitro and in vivo research. Attachment of a trans-activator of transcription (TAT) sequence to Cre allows TAT-Cre to penetrate the cell membrane, and the addition of a nuclear localization signal (NLS) helps the enzyme to translocate into the nucleus. Since the yield of recombinant TAT-Cre is limited by formation of inclusion bodies, we hypothesized that the positively charged arginine-rich TAT sequence causes the inclusion body formation, whereas its neutralization by the addition of a negatively charged sequence improves solubility of the protein. To prove this, we neutralized the positively charged TAT sequence by proximally attaching a negatively charged poly-glutamate (E12) sequence. We found that the E12 tag improved the solubility and yield of E12-TAT-NLS-Cre (E12-TAT-Cre) compared with those of TAT-NLS-Cre (TAT-Cre) when expressed in E. coli. Furthermore, the growth of cells expressing E12-TAT-Cre was increased compared with that of the cells expressing TAT-Cre. Efficacy of the purified TAT-Cre was confirmed by a recombination test on a floxed plasmid in a cell-free system and 293 FT cells. Taken together, our results suggest that attachment of the E12 sequence to TAT-Cre improves its solubility during expression in E. coli (possibly by neutralizing the ionic-charge effects of the TAT sequence) and consequently increases the yield. This method can be applied to the production of transducible proteins for research and therapeutic purposes.