• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.118-124
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: Development of water recycle technologies is important for human health and sustainable agriculture. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the purification methods or the water quality of reclaimed wastewater in Korea. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, the different wastewaters including reclaimed wastewater and waste nutrient solution (NS) were evaluated. The changes of water quality in reclaimed wastewater and NS were determined using ultraviolet (UV) treatment and sand filtration with charcoal. Our results showed that one of the most critical limitations of reusing wastewater was the presence of harmful pathogens that possibly cause human health risks. CONCLUSION(s): This study suggests that the application of UV treatment or combined with sand filtration on reclaimed wastewater and waste NS effectively removes the total coliform bacteria below the harmful or acceptable level. For future studies, a long-term field monitoring after applying reclaimed wastewater or NS is needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.21 no.2 s.74
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• pp.150-157
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• 2006

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is an illness symptom such as irritation of eyes, skin eruption and vomit ing in newly constructed buildings. It is mainly due to the harmful gases from the materials installed in building such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Semivolatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs), floating bacteria, fungi, fungal spores and viruses, human bioeffluents in many modem buildings. The general ways to improve the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) are ventilating, utilizing eco-material without harmful gases and reducing or removing harmful gases through additional treatment to the building materials. This study aimed to improve the Indoor Air Quality(IAQ) by applying surface coating on the building materials and to make safe living environments through the analysis of air quality before and after surface coating treatment in buildings.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1568-1577
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate lactic acid bacteria with antioxidative and probiotic activities isolated from Korean healthy infant feces and kimchi. Isolates A1, A2, S1, S2, and S3 were assigned to Lactobacillus sp. and isolates A3, A4, E1, E2, E3, and E4 were assigned to Leuconostoc sp. on the basis of their physiological properties and 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis. Most strains were confirmed as safe bioresources through nonhemolytic activities and non-production of harmful enzymes such as β-glucosidase, β-glucuronidase and tryptophanase. The 11 isolates showed different resistance to acid and bile acids. In addition, they exhibited antibacterial activity against foodborne bacteria, especially Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli. Furthermore, all strains showed significantly high levels of hydrophobicity. The antioxidant effects of culture filtrates of the 11 strains included 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity, 2.2'-azino-bis (2-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical cation scavenging activity, and superoxide dismutase activity. The results revealed that most of the culture filtrates have effective scavenging activity for DPPH and ABTS radicals. All strains appeared to have effective superoxide dismutase activity. In conclusion, the isolated strains A1, A3, S1, and S3 have significant probiotic activities applicable to the development of functional foods and health-related products. These strains might also contribute to preventing and controlling several diseases associated with oxidative stress, when used as probiotics.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 2001

Ethanol extracts of 38 vegetables were subjected to an in vitro screening for their growth-inhibitory activities towards Bifidobacterium bifidum, B. longum, Clostridium perfringens, Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, and Escherichia coli using paper disc agar diffusion methods under anaerobic conditions. The responses varied with both bacterial strain and vegetable species. In a test with 20 mg/disc, Zingiber officinale extracts showed significant growth-inhibitory responses against B. bifidum, and strong inhibitions against L. casei were detected in the extracts of Chrysanthemum coronarium var. spatiosum and Lactuca sativa. The extracts of Allium sativum, Capsicum annuum, L. esculentum, L. esculentum var. cerasiforme, and Z. officinale showed strong inhibitory activities against C. perfringens, while moderate growth-inhibitory responses were observed in the extracts of C. ffutescens, Cucurbita moschata, Daucus carota var. sativa, and Rubus coreanus. However, all vegetable extracts showed no inhibitions against B. longum, L. acidophilus, and E. coli. In tests with 5 mg/disc, moderate inhibitions were observed in the extracts of C. coronarium var. spatiosum and L. sativa against L. casei and Z. officinale against B. bifidum. Vegetables extracts, except for C. coronarium var. spatiosum, L. sativa, and Z. officinale, did not affect the growth of beneficial bacteria. Strong inhibitory responses against C. perfringens were detected in the extracts of C. annuum and L. esculentum var. cerasiforme. Daily intake of vegetables may be important in the prevention of human diseases caused by the intestinal bacteria.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.239-254
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• 2008

This study was conducted in order to get basic data on standards and specifications of health and functional foods. A total of 101 kinds of functional healths foods were examined during the period of January to December 2005. Among them, 89 kinds were local products and 12 kinds were imported products. Test items were 6 kinds of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, copper, zinc and manganese), 5 bacteria (common bacteria, coliform group, E coli, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens), and 6 preservatives (sorbic acid, benzoic acid, DHA, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben and butyl paraben). As a result of heavy metals, cadmium, was detected from the glucosamine products by 1.52ppm in average, mercury from cereal products by 0.004ppm in average, and lead from chlorella foods by 3.48ppm in average. Bacteria were identified from 3 cereal products, and amount of common bacteria were about $4.8{\times}105cfu/g$ in average. E Coli and Coliform group were isolated from 2 products and 4 products, respectively. All of those products were flour meal products. Any of 6 kinds of preservatives was not detected from all the products. It is thought that these test results will be available as basic data for enactment of relevant laws and regulations for production and control of safer and more hygienic foods in the future because the standards of the harmful heavy metals are not complete or available yet according to the Food Sanitation Law and the Functional Healths Foods Law.

• Journal of Urban Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2021

The number of old buildings older than 30 years in Korea continues to increase from 29.9% in 2005 to 38.8% in 2020. Considering the growing urban regeneration projects, urban maintenance projects, the suppression of urban expansion, and the lack of idle land in the city, the dismantling of old buildings is expected to increase further in the future. As major accidents at building dismantling sites continue to occur, related agencies are also strengthening safety management of building dismantling works. While physical safety management such as collapse and fall is strengthened, there is a relative lack of interest in the health of workers at dismantling sites due to environmental hazards. Since relevant laws stipulate that construction waste should be separated and discharged, old buildings need to be considered for environmental hazards such as fine dust, floating bacteria, and floating molds when dismantling. In this study, we intend to find important safety management elements in the management of building dismantling sites, measure environmental factors harmful to dismantling workers, and present basic data for the management of dismantling sites in the future. "Safety management" was the highest priority, followed by "dust," "vibration," "noise," "bacteria," and "smell." The perception of the importance of "physical damage prevention" with workers working on dismantling and managers managing the site came out similar, but the perception of "work efficiency" and "health disorder prevention" through environmental hazard management showed different priorities. In the process of dismantling, floating bacteria and floating mold were collected, cultured, and measured the concentration in the indoor air. The measurement was measured by dividing it into pre-dismantling and during dismantling.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.1186-1194
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• 2022

The intake of probiotic lactic acid bacteria not only promotes digestion through the microbiome regulated host intestinal metabolism but also improves diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease, and suppresses pathogenic harmful bacteria. This investigation aimed to evaluate the immunomodulatory effects in intestinal epithelial cells and to study the clinical efficacy of the selected the Bifidobacterium breve and Bifidobacterium longum groups. The physiological and biochemical properties were characterized, and immunomodulatory activity was measured against pathogenic bacteria. In order to find out the mechanism of inflammatory action of the eight viable and sonicated Bifidobacterium spp., we tried to confirm the changes in the pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12) and anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10), and chemokines, (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, IL-8) and inflammatory enzymatic mediator (nitric oxide) against Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 infection in Caco-2 cells and RAW 264.7 cells. The clinical efficacy of the selected B. breve and B. longum group was studied as a probiotic adjuvant for acute diarrhea in children by oral administration. The results showed significant immunomodulatory effects on the expression levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12, MCP-1, IL-8 and NO, in sonicated Bifidobacterium extracts and viable bifidobacteria. Moreover, each of the Bifidobacterium strains was found to react more specifically to different cytokines. However, treatment with sonicated Bifidobacterium extracts showed a more significant effect compared to treatment with the viable bacteria. We suggest that probiotics functions should be subdivided according to individual characteristics, and that personalized probiotics should be designed to address individual applications.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.1184-1198
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• 2022

In this study, Rubus coreanus (R. coreanus) byproducts with high polyphenol content were fermented with R. coreanus-derived lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum GBL 16 and 17). Then the effect of R. coreanus-derived lactic acid bacteria fermented feed (RC-LAB fermented feed) with probiotics (Bacillus subtills, Aspergillus oryzae, Yeast) as a feed additive for pigs on the composition of intestinal microbes and the regulation of intestinal immune homeostasis was investigated. Seventy-two finishing Berkshire pigs were randomly allotted to four different treatment groups and 18 replicates. RC-LAB fermented feed with probiotics increased the genera Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Mitsuokella, Prevotella, Bacteroides spp., Roseburia spp., and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, which are beneficial bacteria of the digestive tract of pigs. Also, RC-LAB fermented feed with probiotics decreased the genera Clostridium, Terrisporobacter, Romboutsia, Kandleria, Megasphaera and Escherichia, which are harmful bacteria. In particular, the relative abundance of the genera Lactobacillus and Streptococcus increased by an average of 8.51% and 4.68% in the treatment groups and the classes Clostridia and genera Escherichia decreased by an average of 27.05% and 2.85% in the treatment groups. In mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) and spleens, the mRNA expression of transcription factors and cytokines in Th1 and Treg cells increased and the mRNA expression of Th2 and Th17 transcription factors and cytokines decreased, indicating a regulatory effect on intestinal immune homeostasis. RC-LAB fermented feed regulates gut immune homeostasis by influencing the composition of beneficial and detrimental microorganisms in the gut and regulating the balance of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg cells.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate feasibility of feedstuff for animal using food waste by fermentation mechanism of indigenous microorganism. To achieve this purpose, indigenous bacteria was isolated from soils to use as an inoculant. Enzyme test was performed to verify activity of amylase, protease and lipase using isolated bacteria. Bacteria(H1, D1), which vigorously express the enzyme activity, was selected and used in the fermentation experiments of food waste. From the analysis of 16s rDNA sequencing, H1 and D1 were identified as Bacillus subtilis and Paenibacillus polymyxa, respectively. In the fermentation experiment, food waste was mixed with rice bran and popped rice to control moisture and nutrient content. Isolated bacteria(B. subtilis and P. polymyxa) was used as an inoculant. From the measured data such as temperature, pH and ORP, it can be verified that food waste adding the indigenous bacteria was effectively fermented. From the nutritional analysis of manufactured feedstuff, it showed that the contents of crude protein, crude fat and crude fiber were enough to use as feedstuff for animal. In addition, harmful components such as Pb, Hg, Cd, aflatoxin and salmonella concentration were not exceeded permitted standards. Therefore, fermented food waste using indigenous bacteria can be used as feedstuff.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.117-122
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• 2014

Rice can be the contaminating with soil-borne bacteria. Furthermore, the contaminated bacteria can be grown during immersion process for produce wet-milled rice flour. Therefore, disinfectants can be added during the immersion process. Antibacterial activities of the natural disinfectant, fermented rice spent water (FRSW), and the chemical disinfectants, chlorine dioxide (CD) and sodium benzoate (SB), were respectively determined when added in pure cultures of target bacteria such as Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus cereus or when added to immersion water in the immersion process. In addition, rinsing effects for removing bacteria were determined when rice was rinsed with water before and after the immersion process. Antibacterial activities were rapidly increased as increasing amounts of the disinfectants are added to the pure cultures of the target bacteria. Antibacterial activity of CD was the most effective among the three tested disinfectants when added to the pure cultures of the target bacteria, respectively. Those of the same disinfectants were increased when they were increasingly added to the immersion water. However those of the disinfectants were less effective when added to the immersion water. On the other hand, rinsing effects for removing bacteria were the most effective when rice was rinsed only with water without the immersion process. Collectively, rinsing rice with water only was more effective than using disinfectants in the immersion water during rice flour production.