In general, trans-membrane pressure (TMP), flux, filtration resistance are used as indicators to evaluate the degree of fouling in MBR. However, they have limitations in determining the level of EPS generation, which is known as an important factor of fouling. Therefore, a new evaluation method is required to monitor the amount of EPS generation. In this study, the applicability of capillary suction time (CST), which is used to measure the dewaterability of sludge, was evaluated as an indirect fouling evaluation index. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of EPS on CST, and to determine whether EPS has high similarity with representative fouling evaluation indicators and CST, and quantitatively compared them. As a result, the correlation coefficient between CST and bEPS was 0.7988, which was higher than the correlation coefficient between filtration resistance and bEPS. Since bEPS is a major factor inducing fouling by affecting the formation of the cake layer, it was evaluated that CST, which has a high correlation with bEPS, is suitable to represent EPS. In addition, it was evaluated that the correlation coefficient between filtration resistance and CST was high as 0.7187, which could be used as a fouling evaluation index.

The performance enhancement of various structural building systems from natural hazards has become an inctreasingly important issue in engineering field. In this paper, visco-elastic(VE) CST30 damping systems were tested under cyclic loadings to evaluate their performance in terms of ductility and energy dissipation. Main test variables are relative shear stiffness, rate of loading frequency, and thickness of specimens to evaluate the seismic capacity based on the performance criteria. This experiment was performed using a total of 12 specimens, subjected to cyclic loadings up to a shear deformation of 500%. All the CST30 dampers provided a ductile and stable hysterestic behavior when subjected to the demands of large shear stiffness and different loading frequencies. The test results showed that the CST30 dampers are an effective damping systems to enhance the buildings performance for remodeling and retrofit of buildings

Cathepsins (CTSs), a family of lysosomal cysteine proteases, and their inhibitors (CSTs) play a critical role in remodeling of the uterine endometrium and placenta for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in many animal species including rodents, sheep, cow and pigs. It has been shown that the high rate of pregnancy failure by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is associated with abnormal placental development. Our previous study has shown that CST6 is highly expressed in the uterine endometrium from mid to late pregnancy in pigs. In this study, to understand whether appropriate endometrial and placental tissue remodeling occurs in the uterine endometrium from gilts with conceptuses derived from SCNT during pregnancy in pigs, we investigated expression of CST6 in the uterine endometrium. Uterine endometrial tissues were obtained from gilts that carried SCNT-derived normal conceptuses (NT-No) and abnormal conceptuses (NT-Ab), and from gilts carrying conceptuses from natural mating (Non-NT) on D114 of pregnancy. Immunoblot analysis showed that CST6 protein levels in the endometrial tissues of gilts carrying NT-No were lower than those of gilts carrying Non-NT. The levels of CST6 protein in the endometrial tissues of gilts carrying NT-Ab decreased even more than those of gilts carrying NT-No. These results indicate that decreased expression of CST6 in the endometrium with NT-No and NT-Ab reflects inappropriate endometrial tissue remodeling and pregnancy failure of pigs with SCNT derived conceptuses and that CST6 plays an important role for the maintenance of pregnancy in pigs. * This work was supported by the Next Generation BioGreen 21 program (#PJ007997), RDA, Republic of Korea.

Proteases and their inhibitors are involved in the process of pregnancy by remodeling uterine endometrium and placenta in many mammals. During placentation, proteases and their inhibitors contribute to formation of epitheliochorial type placentation in pigs. Our previous study showed that LGMN and CST6 were expressed in the uterine endometrium and localized mainly to glandular epithelial cells (GE) and chorionic membrane (CM) during mid to late pregnancy. In this study, we investigated expression of LGMN and CST6 in the uterine endometrium and fetal membrane during pregnancy in pigs. Uterine endometrial tissue samples and fetal membrane samples were collected from D30, D60, D90, and D114 of pregnancy. Real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that both LGMN and CST6 mRNAs were detected in the uterine endometrium and fetal membrane in all samples with higher levels during mid to late stage of pregnancy. Analysis by immunoblotting revealed that LGMN protein was present in the porcine uterine endometrium and fetal membrane. Based on the placental and endometrial distribution of proteases and their inhibitors, we examined LGMN mRNA and LGMN protein expression in the neonatal pigs. In situ hybridization analysis using the intestine from D90 of piglet revealed that LGMN mRNA was highly expressed in the absorptive epithelium of the intestinal villi. Immunohistochemical experiments demonstrated that LGMN protein was localized to epithelial villi. These results suggest a possible role of LGMN in modification of proteins that are transported through the fetal membrane from the uterine for successful transport and utilization in the fetus.

현재 우리나라의 슬러지 발생량은 지속적으로 증가하는 추세이며, 해양매립이 금지됨에 따라, 슬러지의 처리방법과 활용방안이 시급해져 새로운 방법을 모색할 필요가 있다. 이 연구에서는 하수 처리 시 발생하는 잉여슬러지의 탈수성을 증대시켜 슬러지 케이크를 감소시키기 위해 초음파를 적용하였다. 초음파를 액체에 발사하면 액중에 수축과 팽창이 교대로 일어나며 수 만개 이상의 미세한 공동이 발생된다. 이 공동이 폭발하면서 발생한 에너지를 슬러지의 입자 파괴에 이용하여 슬러지의 탈수성을 증대시키고자 하였다. 이번 연구에서 사용된 슬러지는 김포하수처리장에서 채취한 탈수 전 슬러지이며 하수슬러지 7L에 초음파 조사시간(5min, 10min, 20min, 30min, 50min, 60min)에 조사강도 154W, 308W를 가하였다. 일반적으로 초음파 조사시간이 길어질수록 CST가 증가하는 경향을 보였다. 그러나 조사한 슬러지에 응집제를 첨가시 초음파 강도와 조사시간에 따른 CST 결과 154W에서 조사시간 5분, 10분일 때 CST가 가장 낮게 측정되었다. 또한 초음파 조사시간에 따른 원심분리실험을 실시하였다. 조사시간 5min, 10min일 때를 조사하지 않은 슬러지와 실험을 실시한 결과, 초음파에 조사된 슬러지가 초기 침하되는 속도가 더 빠르며, 최종침하량도 더 빨리 도달했다. 연구결과 초음파조사시간과 초음파 강도가 탈수성에 큰 영향을 주었다. 탈수성의 직접적 효과를 보기 위하여 조사시간 5~10min, 초음파 강도 154W를 가해야한다. 이를 잉여슬러지의 탈수능 향상에 도입시 유용하게 사용될 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.