• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.477-484
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• 2019

Several types of scavenger receptors, including the Collectin-Placenta 1 (CL-P1) receptorthat is present in mammals, are molecules that are expressed on the surfaces of endothelial cells, macrophages and smooth muscle cells. These molecules are cell surface glycoproteins that can be conjugated to oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL). Among these molecules, the effect of quercetin on CL-P1 activation has been confirmed. Quercetin is known as an antioxidant that stops oxidation because it acts to remove free radicals that are responsible for the oxidation reaction. In this study, fragments from the transcription start site of the mouse CL-P1 gene promoter to the -500th base were cloned using DNA polymerase. These fragments were then introduced into macrophage like RAW264.7 cells and fibroblast-like NIH3T3 cells to study the effect of quercetin on the CL-P1 gene expression. As a result, we found that bases ranging from -250 to -350 in the anterior part where gene expression starts are important for producing CL-P1 protein. Among them, the DNA mutation experiments we performed confirmed that the E2F binding sites are critical for producing the CL-P1 protein? In addition, when quercetin was added to the RAW264.7 culture medium, which was a culture of adherent cells, observedthe phenomenon of the cells falling off from the surface of the culture container.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.261-268
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• 2021

Equilibrium, kinetics, and thermodynamics of adsorption of acid black 1 (AB1) by coal-based granular activated carbon (CGAC) were investigated with the adsorption variables of initial concentration of dye, contact time, temperature, and pH. The adsorption reaction of AB1 by activated carbon was caused by electrostatic attraction between the surface (H⁺) of activated carbon and the sulfite ions (SO₃^-) and nitrite ions (NO₂^-) possessed by AB1, and the degree of reaction was highest at pH 3 (97.7%). The isothermal data of AB1 were best fitted with Freundlich isotherm model. From the calculated separation factor (1/n) of Freundlich, it was confirmed that adsorption of AB1 by activated carbon could be very effective. The heat of adsorption in the Temkin model suggested a physical adsorption process (< 20 J mol^-1). The kinetic experiment favored the pseudo second order model, and the equilibrium adsorption amount estimated from the model agreed to that given by the experiments (error < 9.73% ). Intraparticle diffusion was a rate controlling step in this adsorption process. From the activation energy and enthalpy change, it was confirmed that the adsorption reaction is an endothermic reaction proceeding with physical adsorption. The entropy change was positive because of an active reaction at the solid-liquid interface during adsorption of AB1 on the activated carbon surface. The free energy change indicated that the spontaneity of the adsorption reaction increased as the temperature increased.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2022

Adsorption tower systems based on activated carbon adsorption towers have mainly been employed to reduce the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a major cause of air pollution. However, the activated carbon currently used in these systems has a short lifespan and thus requires frequent replacement. An approach to overcome this shortcoming could be to develop metal oxide photocatalysis-activated carbon composites capable of degrading VOCs by simultaneously utilizing photocatalytic activation and powerful adsorption by activated carbon. TiO₂ has primarily been used as a metal oxide photocatalyst, but it has low economic efficiency due to its high cost. In this study, ZnO particles were synthesized as a photocatalyst due to their relatively low cost. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were deposited on the ZnO surface to compensate for the photocatalytic deactivation that arises from the wide band gap of ZnO. A microfluidic process was used to synthesize ZnO particles and Ag NPs in separate reactors and the solutions were continuously supplied with a pack bed reactor loaded with activated carbon powder. This microfluidic-assisted pack bed reactor efficiently prepared a Ag-ZnO-activated carbon composite for VOC removal. Analysis confirmed that Ag-ZnO photocatalytic particles were successfully deposited on the surface of the activated carbon. Conducting a toluene gasbag test and adsorption breakpoint test demonstrated that the composite had a more efficient removal performance than pure activated carbon. The process proposed in this study efficiently produces photocatalysis-activated carbon composites and may offer the potential for scalable production of VOC removal composites.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.210-217
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• 2022

Boron(B) is a rare resource used for various purposes such as glass, semiconductor materials, gunpowder, rocket fuel, etc. However, Korea depends entirely on imports for boron. Considering the global boron reserves and its current production rate, boron will be depleted on earth in 50 years. Thus, a process including proper adsorbent materials recovering boron from seawater is demanded. This research proposed carbonized nanofibers prepared from electrospun PAN(polyacrylonitrile) mats as promising materials to adsorb boron in aqueous solution. First, the mechanism of boron adsorption on carbonized nanofibers was investigated by DFT(density functional method)-based molecular modeling and the calculated energetics demonstrated that the boron chemisorption on the nitrogen-doped graphene surface by a two-step dehydration is possible with viable activation energies. Then, the electrospun PAN mats were stabilized in air and then carbonized in an argon atmosphere before being immersed in the boric acid aqueous solution. Analytically, SEM(scanning electron microscopy) and Raman measurements were employed to confirm whether the electrospinning and carbonization of PAN mats proceeded successfully. Then, XPS(X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) peak analysis showed whether the intended nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber surface was formed and boron was properly adsorbed on nanofibers. Those results demonstrated that the carbonized nanofibers prepared from electrospun PAN mats could be feasible adsorbents for boron recovery in seawater.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2022

The hydrogen reduction behavior of molybdenum oxides was studied using a horizontal-tube reactor. Reduction was carried out in two stages: MoO₃ → MoO₂ and MoO₂ → Mo. In the first stage, a mixed gas composed of 30 vol% H₂ and 70 vol% Ar was selected for the MoO₃ reduction because of its highly exothermic reaction. The temperature ranged from 550 to 600 ℃, and the residence time ranged from 30 to 150 min. In the second step, pure H₂ gas was used for the MoO₂ reduction, and the temperature and residence time ranges were 700-750 ℃ and 30-150 min, respectively. The hydrogen reduction behavior of molybdenum oxides was found to be somewhat different between the two stages. For the first stage, a temperature dependence of the reaction rate was observed, and the best curve fittings were obtained with a surface reaction control mechanism, despite the presence of intermediate oxides under the conditions of this study. Based on this mechanism, the activation energy and pre-exponential were calculated as 85.0 kJ/mol and 9.18 × 10⁷, respectively. In addition, the pore size within a particle increases with the temperature and residence time. In the second stage, a temperature dependence of the reaction rate was also observed; however, the surface reaction control mechanism fit only the early part, which can be ascribed to the degradation of the oxide crystals by a volume change as the MoO₂ → Mo phase transformation proceeded in the later part.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.412-421
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• 2023

Ultrasound brain stimulation is spot-lighted by its capability of inducing brain cell activation in a localized deep brain region and ultimately treating impaired brain function while the efficiency and directivity of neural modulation are highly dependent on types of stimulus waveforms. Therefore, to optimize the types of stimulation parameters, we propose a cell-cultivable ultrasonic transducer having a series stack of a spin-coated polymer piezoelectric element (Poly-vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethylene, PVDF-TrFE) and a parylene insulating layer enhancing output acoustic pressure on a glass-coverslip which is commonly used in culturing cells. Due to the uniformity and high accuracy of stimulus waveform, tens of neuronal cell responses located on the transducer surface can be recorded simultaneously with fluorescence microscopy. By averaging the cell response traces from tens of cells, small changes to the low intensity ultrasound stimulations can be identified. In addition, the reduction of stimulus distortions made by standing wave generated from reflections between the transducers and other strong reflectors can be achieved by placing acoustic absorbers. Through the proposed ultrasound transducer, we could successfully observe the calcium responses induced by low-intensity ultrasound stimulation of 6 MHz, 0.2 MPa in astrocytes cultured on the transducer surface.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.472-478
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• 2023

In this study, the acetaldehyde removal characteristics of activated carbon (AC) for air purifier filters were investigated using metal catalysts-impregnation and functional group-modification method. The AC with a high specific surface area(1700 m²/g) and micropores was prepared by KOH activation of coconut charcoal and the efficiency of catalyst and functional group immobilization was examined by varying the drying conditions within the pores after immersion. The physical properties of the prepared activated carbon were analyzed by BET, ICP, EA, and FT-IR, and the acetaldehyde adsorption performances were investigated using gas chromatography (GC) at various impregnation and modified conditions. As the concentration of impregnation solution increased, the amount of impregnated metal catalysts increased, while the specific surface area showed a decreasing trend. The adsorption tests of the metal catalyst-impregnated and functional group-modified activated carbons revealed that excellent adsorption performance in compositions MgO10@AC, CaO10@AC, EU10@AC, and H-U3N1@AC, respectively. The MgO10@AC, which showed the highest adsorption performance, had a breakthrough time of 533.8 minutes and adsorption capacity of 57.4 mg/g for acetaldehyde adsorption. It was found that the nano-sized MgO catalyst on the activated carbon improved the adsorption performance by interacting with carbonyl groups of acetaldehyde.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2024

Most medical sensors are disposable products. In order to reduce inspection and diagnosis costs, it is more important to develop the inexpensive electrode materials. We fabricated the CuO NPs/PANI/E-PGE as an electrode material for disposable electrochemical sensors and applied it to a non-enzymatic glucose sensor. For surface activation of PGE, pretreatment was performed using chemical and electrochemical methods, respectively. Electrochemical properties according to the pretreatment method were analyzed through chronoamperometry (CA), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance (EIS). From these analytical results, the electrochemically pretreated PGE (E-PGE) was finally adopted. The non-enzymatic glucose sensor based on CuO NPs/PANI/E-PGE shows sensitivity of 239.18 mA/mM×cm² (in a linear range of 0.282~2.112 mM) and 36.99 mA/mM×cm² (3.75423~50 mM), detection limit of 17.6 μM and good selectivity. Based on the results of this study, it was confirmed that the modified PGE is a high-performance electrode material. Therefore, these electrodes can be applied to a variety of disposable sensors.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.690-698
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• 1995

The Poly-S $i_{1-x}$G $e_{x}$ thin films were deposited on oxidized Si wafer by RTCVD(rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition) using Si $H_4$and Ge $H_4$, at 450 ~5$50^{\circ}C$. The variation of Ge mole fraction and the deposition rate of S $i_{1-x}$G $e_{x}$ thin film were studied as a function of the deposition temperature and the Ge $H_4$/Si $H_4$input ratio, and the crystal phase and the surface roughness were studied by XRD and AFM(atomic force microscopy), respectively. The experimental results showed that the activation energy for the deposition of poly-S $i_{1-x}$G $e_{x}$ was about 32~37Kca /mol and the deposition rate of S $i_{1-x}$G $e_{x}$ thin films was increased with increasing the deposition temperature and the input ratio. From the analysis of composition, it was known that the Ge mole fraction within the poly-S $i_{1-x}$G $e_{x}$ thin film was decreased with decreasing the input ratio and increasing the deposition temperature. As-deposited S $i_{1-x}$G $e_{x}$ thin films were polycrystalline over the entire experimental range. But those were amorphous at the deposition temperature of 450, 475$^{\circ}C$ and the input ratio of 0.05. By adding the Ge $H_4$, poly-S $i_{1-x}$G $e_{x}$ thin film were deposited at relatively lower deposition temperatures($\leq$ 5$50^{\circ}C$) than those of conventional poly-Si(>$600^{\circ}C$). From surface roughness measurement of poly-S $i_{1-x}$G $e_{x}$ it was found that the surface roughness( $R_{i}$ ) increased with increasing the deposition temperature and input ratio.and input ratio.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.339-345
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• 2013

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are a family of central signaling molecules that respond to numerous stimuli and are known to participate in processes of cell survival and death. However, it is not clear on data for cell-type specific activation of MAPKs in the progression of gastric ulcer. In the present study, we assessed how MAPKs localized at various cell types during the progression of gastric ulcer induced by ibuprofen. Gastric ulcer was induced by the repeated treatment of 200 mg/kg ibuprofen with 8 hrs interval in a day. Animals were sacrificed at 24 hrs, 48 hrs, and 72 hrs after oral treatment of ibuprofen and gastric tissues were subjected to immunohistochemical and immunoblotting evaluation. Immunoreactivity of phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK) was mainly expressed at the proliferating zone of gastric mucosa in control rats. But, these signals for p-ERK were highly shifted from cells of proliferating zone to parietal cells of the basal regions 24 hrs after treatment of ibuprofen. p-ERK signal was strongly expressed in epithelial cells adjacent to ulcer margin and new capillary and infiltrated inflammatory cells within granulation tissue of the ulcer base above 48 hrs after treatment of ibuprofen. While, phospho-c-Jun $NH_2$ terminal kinase (p-JNK) was mainly localized to the nuclei of the surface epithelial cells and the glandular epithelial cells in early gastric injury. Also, p-JNK was often observed as a scattered pattern in different regions of gastric mucosa with early gastric injury. Gradually, signal of p-JNK was strongly stained in infiltrated inflammatory cells and fibroblasts within severe ulcer base. Phospho-p38 (p-p38) MAPK was observed as scattered pattern within connective tissues of gastric mucosa. Especially, p-p38 MAPK showed strong signal in infiltrated macrophages within ulcer base. These results show that each MAPK has a specific role in various cell types during the progression of gastric ulcer.