Chamteut Oh

• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Current modeling practices for environmental and sociological modulated infectious diseases remain inadequate to forecast the risk of outbreak(s) in human populations, partly due to a lack of integration of disciplinary knowledge, limited availability of disease surveillance datasets, and overreliance on compartmental epidemiological modeling metho...

Accessible and low-cost point-of-use technologies have significant potential to mitigate risk to public health, particularly in areas with limited resources and in disaster scenarios. Natural cotton fibers functionalized with water-soluble proteins from Moringa oleifera seeds (MO-cotton filter) are a promising technology at lab-scale with demonstra...

Nucleic acid-based assays, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), that amplify and detect organism-specific genome sequences are a standard method for infectious disease surveillance. However, challenges arise for virus surveillance because of their genetic diversity. Here, we calculated the variability of nucleotides within the genomes of 10 hum...

Nucleic acid-based assays, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), that amplify and detect organism-specific genome sequences are a standard method for infectious disease surveillance. However, challenges arise for virus surveillance because of their genetic diversity. Here, we calculated the variability of nucleotides within the genomes of ten hu...

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), an emerging approach for community-wide COVID-19 surveillance, was primarily characterized at large sewersheds such as wastewater treatment plants serving a large population. Although informed public health measures can be better implemented for a small population, WBE for neighborhood-scale sewersheds is less s...

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), an emerging approach for community-wide COVID-19 surveillance, was primarily characterized at large sewersheds such as wastewater treatment plants serving a large population. Although informed public health measures can be better implemented for a small population, WBE for neighborhood-scale sewersheds is less s...

Human noroviruses are major food- and waterborne pathogens, causing approximately 20% of all cases of acute gastroenteritis cases in developing and developed countries. Proper sanitation or disinfection are critical strategies to minimize human norovirus-caused disease until a reliable vaccine is created.

Monitoring the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants is necessary to make informed public health decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. PCR assays have received global attention, facilitating a rapid understanding of variant dynamics because they are more accessible and scalable than genome sequencing. However, as PCR assays target only a few mutation...

Viruses are present at low concentrations in wastewater; therefore, an effective method for concentrating virus particles is necessary for accurate wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). We designed a novel approach to concentrate human and animal viruses from wastewater using porcine gastric mucin-conjugated magnetic beads (PGM-MBs). We systematical...

Viruses are present at low concentrations in wastewater, and therefore an effective concentration of virus particles is necessary for accurate wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). We designed a novel approach to concentrate human and animal viruses from wastewater using porcine gastric mucin-conjugated magnetic beads (PGM-MBs). We systematically ev...

Proper disinfection of harvested food and water is critical to minimize infectious disease. Grape seed extract (GSE), a commonly used health supplement, is a mixture of plant-derived polyphenols. Polyphenols possess anti-microbial and -fungal properties, but anti-viral effects are not well-known. Here we show that GSE outperformed chemical disinfec...

Monitoring the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants is necessary to make informed public health decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. PCR assays have received global attention, facilitating rapid understanding of variant dynamics because they are more accessible and scalable than genome sequencing. However, as PCR assays target only a few mutations,...

Efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis revealed that fast, accurate, and scalable testing is crucial for curbing the current impact and that of future pandemics. We propose an optical method for directly imaging unlabeled viral particles and using deep learning for detection and classification. An ultrasensitive interferometric method was used to...

Wearing a mask population-wide is an important preventive measure in addressing COVID-19 and potential future pandemics. We showed how a household microwave oven, a coat-hanger, and a coffee cup can generate plasma that can be used to decontaminate N95 respirators in less than 1 minute. We proved that microwave-generated plasma can reduce infectivi...

Efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis revealed that fast, accurate, and scalable testing is crucial for curbing the current impact and that of future pandemics. We propose an optical method for directly imaging unlabeled viral particles and using deep learning for detection and classification. An ultrasensitive interferometric method was used to...

We show how a common microwave oven, a coat-hanger and a coffee cup can be used to decontaminate N-95 respirators in 30 seconds. Tulane virus in the artificial saliva was reduced by >3 log and Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores were reduced by >6 log. Respirators maintained filtration and fit even after 10 cycles. Filtration and fit tests perfor...

This study evaluated the potential of a microplasma UV lamp as an alternative UV source to the current mercury-based (Hg-based) UV lamp for water disinfection. We developed a set of PCR-based molecular assays (long-range qPCR, DNase, and binding assay) to quantify the adenovirus genome, capsid, and fiber damage with a wide detection range (10 0.5-1...

We show how a common microwave oven, a coat-hanger and a coffee cup can be used to decontaminate N-95 respirators in 30 seconds. Tulane virus in artificial saliva was reduced by >3 log and Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores were reduced by >6 log. Respirators maintained filtration and fitting after 10 cycles.

A pandemic such as COVID-19 can cause a sudden depletion in the worldwide supply of respirators, forcing healthcare providers to reuse them. In this study, we systematically evaluated dry heat treatment as a viable option for the safe decontamination of N95 respirators (1860, 3M) before its reuse. We found that the dry heat generated by an electric...

div> A pandemic such as COVID-19 can cause a depletion of face respirators throughout the world, forcing temporal respirator reuse. In this research, dry heat was systematically evaluated by decontamination, filtration performance, and qualitative fit testing to help safe reuse of N95 (1860, 3M) respirators. As a result, the dry heat generated by...

People who drink groundwater in rural areas of Southeast Asia are exposed to pathogens and arsenic (As)-related health problems. A water treatment system consisting of electrocoagulation reactors, using iron (Fe) electrodes and a filtration tank, was designed to treat complex contaminated groundwater for drinking. Its applicability was demonstrated...

Selective precipitation (SP) is a promising remediation technique for mine drainage, minimising generation of waste sludge. The efficiency of SP is heavily dependent on how effectively precipitates fall out in a settling tank. In this research, the behaviour of iron precipitate was examined using a one dimensional column, with mine drainage pumped...

In this research, an electrochemical wastewater treatment system, powered through the conversion of temperature difference into energy, was designed. The wastewater treatment system was applied to drainage flowing from two different mines, one contaminated by arsenic (As), the other ferrous iron (Fe²⁺). Arsenic was adsorbed on, or co-precipitated w...

In predicting the acid-forming potential of rock samples, a combination of acid–base accounting (ABA) and net acid generation (NAG) tests has been commonly used. While simple and economical, this method sometimes shows low reliability such as categorizing certain samples as uncertain (UC). ABA and NAG tests were modified to selectively recover vali...

The main purpose of this research was to evaluate the geochemical properties of rocks for a single indicator of acid-forming potential. The indicators, such as net acid generation (NAG), NAG pH and total S, were applied to 312 rock samples of various geological characteristics. Additional indicators, such as a Modified NAG pH, paste pH and availabl...

Simultaneous carbon mineralization during neutralization of bauxite residue, a caustic alkaline by-product of alumina refining, was tested using laboratory batch and a field pilot study in contact with atmospheric CO2. Since CO2 sequestration is limited by the Ca concentration in the bauxite residue, extra Ca sources were added in a semi-soluble mi...

Acid mine drainage (AMD) generated from mining activities has been recognized as a serious problem due to its increased acidity and high concentration of heavy metals. In this research, a feasibility test of the selective precipitation (SP) process was performed using AMD discharged from a currently operating mine in Korea for the purpose of minimi...

An integrated study, including mineralogy, geochemistry, lead isotopic composition, acid–base accounting, and factor analysis, was conducted on the rock core samples from two deep boreholes (AH1 and BH3) to assess the alteration and acid-generating potential of two representative lithologies of Korea (granite and geniss) for geological disposal. Th...

This research focused on the optimum design of cascade aerator to enhance the efficiency of the oxidation pond in passive treatment system for remediating ferruginous mine drainage. For this purpose, various aeration experiments with aerators of different drop heights (0 m ∼ 4 m) and formation (type A and B) were executed on mine drainage. Type A s...

In assessing the adverse effects of acid mine drainage (AMD), the chemistry of AMD and stream water (i.e., pH and toxic metal concentrations) has been accounted as important monitoring parameters and its characteristics are regulated in many countries. Yet for the precise evaluation of eco-toxicological effect on AMD receiving streams, a more compr...

Mineral processing requires large volumes of water, but water is limited at mining sites. Therefore, techniques to recycle mineral-processing wastewater without negative effects on recovery and flotation grade are critical. Among a number of technologies to recycle water, flocculation using an anionic polymer was tested for recycling mineral-proces...

The primary purpose of this research was to assess the applicability of the cascade aerator in a passive treatment system for ferruginous mine drainages to increase efficiency and reduce the size of the passive treatment system. Two experiments of different aeration methods were executed: the air diffuser experiment and the cascade aerator experime...

This study focused on the environmental risk of steel making slag itself, arsenic removal mechanism and re-leaching possibility of arsenic to aqueous state after the adsorption. The purpose of the study is to promote the use of steel making slag as a low-cost adsorbent for arsenic in aqueous system. Calcium was easily dissolved out from the slag an...