• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.361-374
• /
• 2022

For this study, we designed and produced mulberry low-fat ice cream supplemented with synbiotics (MLF-ISS). The sensory characteristics and physical, chemical, and microbiological qualities of MLF-ISS were then determined. Mulberry juice inoculated with or without probiotic (Lactobacillus plantarum TISTR 926 and Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745) was also tested at 37℃ for 24 h to determine probiotic growth rate, pH, total anthocyanin content (TAC), total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity (AA). Only the TAC of mulberry juice inoculated with S. boulardii CNCM I-745 increased considerably (p < 0.05) among these parameters. MLF-ISS was produced with varied mulberry fruit concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, or 40%) (w/w). The MLF-ISS prepared with 30% mulberry fruit (w/w) (30-MLF-ISS) had a higher score in appearance, color, and sweetness (p < 0.05) when sensory qualities were measured using the 9-point hedonic scale method. In the CIE lab system (L^*, a^*, b^*), the color values of 30-MLF-ISS were 27.80 ± 0.26, 12.99 ± 0.59, and 1.43 ± 0.05, respectively. The 30-MLF-ISS was also subjected to a proximate analysis. The melting rate of 30-MLF-ISS was 0.29 ± 0.03 g/min and the time it took for the first drop to fall was 37.00 ± 7.00 min. TAC, TPC, and AA of 30-MLF-ISS were observed to alter significantly (p < 0.05) during varied intervals of storage at - 18℃ (0, 30, and 60 days). The viability of probiotics in 30-MLF-ISS slightly decreased after storage at -18℃ for 8 weeks, but remained about 6 log CFU/g. During storage at -18℃ for 0 and 120 days, no pathogenic bacteria were detected in 30-MLF-ISS. These findings show that 30-MLF-ISS has nutritional and functional value, is free of foodborne pathogenic bacteria, is safe for consumers' health, and is suitable for application in the ice cream and related food industries.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.237-247
• /
• 2023

The emergence of high-rise buildings has necessitated frequent structural health monitoring and maintenance for safety reasons. Wind causes damage and structural changes on tall structures; thus, safe structures should be designed. The pressure developed on tall buildings has been utilized in previous research studies to assess the impacts of wind on structures. The wind tunnel test is a primary research method commonly used to quantify the aerodynamic characteristics of high-rise buildings. Wind pressure is measured by placing pressure sensor taps at different locations on tall buildings, and the collected data are used for analysis. However, sensors may malfunction and produce erroneous data; these data losses make it difficult to analyze aerodynamic properties. Therefore, it is essential to generate missing data relative to the original data obtained from neighboring pressure sensor taps at various intervals. This study proposes a deep learning-based, deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DCGAN) to restore missing data associated with faulty pressure sensors installed on high-rise buildings. The performance of the proposed DCGAN is validated by using a standard imputation model known as the generative adversarial imputation network (GAIN). The average mean-square error (AMSE) and average R-squared (ARSE) are used as performance metrics. The calculated ARSE values by DCGAN on the building model's front, backside, left, and right sides are 0.970, 0.972, 0.984 and 0.978, respectively. The AMSE produced by DCGAN on four sides of the building model is 0.008, 0.010, 0.015 and 0.014. The average standard deviation of the actual measures of the pressure sensors on four sides of the model were 0.1738, 0.1758, 0.2234 and 0.2278. The average standard deviation of the pressure values generated by the proposed DCGAN imputation model was closer to that of the measured actual with values of 0.1736,0.1746,0.2191, and 0.2239 on four sides, respectively. In comparison, the standard deviation of the values predicted by GAIN are 0.1726,0.1735,0.2161, and 0.2209, which is far from actual values. The results demonstrate that DCGAN model fits better for data imputation than the GAIN model with improved accuracy and fewer error rates. Additionally, the DCGAN is utilized to estimate the wind pressure in regions of buildings where no pressure sensor taps are available; the model yielded greater prediction accuracy than GAIN.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.22-30
• /
• 2023

Mongolia is experiencing some of the world's most serious air pollution problems. The air pollution is especially severe during the winter when raw coal and low-grade fuels are used to heat homes in Ger villages. The impact of this pollution has created significant health and socioeconomic challenges for the country. In order to mitigate this air pollution, this study analyzed the fuel quality of the low-grade fuels and Mongolian waste cooking oils used in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Then the environmental characteristics of traditional stove combustion and a prototype combustion heating device were compared and analyzed. In addition, the effect of replacing the heating devices was evaluated by analyzing their risks to humans. Analysis of the fuel characteristics showed that briquettes had relatively low environmental properties as a result of their high ash, N and S content. Also, after analyzing the combustion characteristics, it was found that the air quality improvement effect was higher when waste cooking oil was burned compared to the three types of coal that were analyzed. Finally, this study evaluated the impact of replacing the Mongolia traditional stove with a prototype stove that uses waste cooking oil. The results of this study are expected to help to mitigate the air quality problems currently observed in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.68 no.2
• /
• pp.59-68
• /
• 2023

Sweet corn is widely consumed due to its high nutritional content and diverse phytochemical composition, including carotenoids and phenolic compounds, which have several benefits for human health. This study aims to identify breeding materials for developing high-functional sweet corn varieties by evaluating the phytochemical and antioxidant activities of 37 Korean sweet corn inbred lines. The results revealed genetic variation in various components, such as carotenoid content (range of 120.7~1239.3 mg 100 g^-1), polyphenol content (490.5~740.6 mg gallic acid equivalent 100 g^-1), and flavonoid content (7.3~68.6 mg catechin equivalent 100 g^-1). In addition, the free radical scavenging capacity, measured using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), also varied among the inbred lines. Therefore, in this study, we identified Korean sweet corn inbred lines with high phytochemical content and excellent antioxidant activity. The development of sweet corn varieties with improved functionality is expected to further expand the role of sweet corn as a source of antioxidants in the Korean diet.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.41-53
• /
• 2023

E171, a mixture of titanium dioxide, has been widely used as a food additive due to its whitening effect and low toxicity. However, it has been proven that E171 is no longer safe for public health. So far, there are insufficient studies on the toxic effects of E171 on organisms especially using standardized test methods. In this study, toxicity assessments of E171 to two aquatic species, water flea (Daphnia magna) and zebrafish (Danio rerio), were performed using modified standardized test methods based on the physicochemical properties of E171. The hydrodynamic diameter, polydispersity index, and turbiscan stability index (TSI) were measured to ensure the dispersion stability of E171 in exposure media during the test period. The EC₅₀ for immobilization of water flea was 141.7 mg L^-1 while zebrafish was not affected until 100 mg L^-1 of E171. Measurements of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant enzyme activities confirmed that E171 induced oxidative stress, leading to the activation of superoxide dismutase and catalase in both water flea and zebrafish, although the expression of antioxidant enzyme genes differed between species. These results suggested the potential risk of E171 to aquatic organisms and provided toxicological insights into the impacts of E171 on the environment.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.118-125
• /
• 2023

Once a site is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), serious environmental and human health risks are inevitable. Therefore, innovative but economical in situ remediation technologies must be immediately applied to the contaminated site. Recently, nanoscale zero-valent iron (nano-ZVI) particles have successfully been applied for the dechlorination of various chlorinated organic compounds like TCE, PCE and DDT, and they are considered to be environmentally safe due to the high abundance of iron in the earth's crust. Nano-ZVIs are much more reactive than granular ones, but tend to agglomerate due to their high surface energy and magnetic properties. In order to prevent them from being agglomerated toward larger particles, TiO₂ was used as a support to immobilize the nano-ZVI particles as much as possible. 10wt% ZVI/TiO₂ was prepared by adding NaBH₄ slowly into an FeSO₄/TiO₂ aqueous slurry. In spite of their non-uniformity in size, the nano-ZVI particles were quite successfully dispersed onto the exterior surface of a non-porous TiO₂ powder. The ZVI/TiO₂ was then employed to degrade Aroclor 1242, a kind of PCBs standard, in spiked soil, and its reactivity towards the degradation of Aroclor 1242 was investigated. The fabricated ZVI/TiO₂ degraded Aroclor 1242 in soil quite effectively, but the creation of remaining dechlorinated compounds, possibly high molecular weight hydrocarbons, in the soil was unavoidable.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.639-658
• /
• 2023

Although goat meat has several health benefits than other red meats but comsumers reluctant it due to its unpleasant flavor. This study aimed to investigate the odorant of goat meat as well as compare the quality traits of meat regarding sex status. The loin meats [non-castrated male (NCM), castrated male (CM), and female (FM)] were collected and stored at 4℃ in a laboratory refrigerator and analyzed on the 1^st, 5^th, and 8^th consecutive days. The moisture content was the lowest and the protein content was highest in FM (p<0.05). Fat and ash content in NCM and FM were similar while lowest in CM. The CIE L^* was significantly higher in NCM, but there were no significant differences of CIE a^* and CIE b^* within groups at initial day. The color intensity increased on the 5^th storage day and decreased again after the 8^th storage day, except in NCM. NCM displayed the highest thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value (p<0.05), whereas CM displayed a higher pH value than other groups throughout the storage period. Indole levels were the highest in NCM (0.031 mg/kg); however, skatole levels were not significant differences across all treatments (p>0.05). No significant difference was observed in the fatty acid composition between NCM and CM (p>0.05), whereas a significant difference was observed in FM (p<0.05). Most of the water-soluble metabolites showed significant differences between sexes. Overall, sex status effects on quality properties of meat and castration can improve the overall sensory acceptance by reducing goaty flavor of Korean native black goat meat.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.253-261
• /
• 2022

After exposing Olive flounder and Korean rockfish to the concentration ranges of control (0 mg/L), 100 mg/L, 250 mg/L, 500 mg/L, and 1,000 mg/L, to investigate the physiological properties of suspended load on fish AST/GOT, ALT/GPT, ALP and cortisol were analyzed. As a result of the analysis, the AST/GOT, ALT/GPT, ALP and cortisol values were higher in the suspended load concentration section than in the control group. After artificial infection with S. parauberis for Olive flounder and V. harveyi for Korean rockfish exposed to suspended load, the survival rate was higher in the control group than in the suspended load concentration section. These results are related to the previously study results of suspended load that adversely affect fish, suggesting that suspended load affects the health of fish.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.409-419
• /
• 2023

Okadaic acid (OA) group toxins, including OA and its analogs, such as dinophysis toxins (DTXs), have been reported to cause diarrheal shellfish poisoning (DSP). These toxins are primarily produced by dinoflagellates and are accumulated in bivalves. Recently, the presence of Dinophysis sp., a causative alga of DSP, has been reported along the coasts of Korea, posing a potential risk of contamination to domestic seafood and exerting an impact on both the production and consumption of marine products. Accordingly, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have established standards for the permissible levels of OA group toxins in marine products for safety management. Additionally, in line with international initiatives, the domestic inclusion and regulation of DTX2 among the substances falling under the purview of management outlined by the 2022 diarrheal shellfish toxin standard have been implemented. In this study, we reviewed the physicochemical properties of OA group toxins, their various exposure routes (such as acute toxicity, genotoxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity), and the relative toxicity factors associated with these toxins. We also performed a comparative assessment of the methods employed for toxin analysis across different countries. Furthermore, we aimed to conduct a broad review of human exposure cases and assess the international guideline for risk management of OA group toxins.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.985-991
• /
• 2023

A tissue-equivalent phantom is necessary for quality control of hyperthermia therapy. However, since there is no phantom for this purpose, phantoms made from agar are being used in various studies. The tissue-equivalent properties of the agar phantom were confirmed by comparison with the tissue-equivalent material bolus in this study. CT images of the agar phantom and bolus were acquired, and tissue equivalent characteristics were analyzed with image analysis and dose calculation using a computerized radiation therapy planning system. The average pixel value was 96.960±10.999 in bolus, 108.559±8.233 in 3% agar phantom, and 111.844±8.651 in 4% agar phantom. Using the SSD technique, 100 cGy was prescribed at a depth of 1.5 cm and 6 MV X -ray was set to irradiated to 10x10 cm2, and the absorbed dose according to depth was calculated from the central axis of the beam. The intraclass correlation coefficient of dose distribution of bolus, 3% agar phantom, and 4% agar phantom was 0.979 (p<.001, 95%CI .957-.991). The density (g/cm3) at the point where the absorbed dose was calculated was 0.990±0.020 at the bolus, 1.018±0.020 at the 3% agar phantom, and 1.035±0.024 at the 4% agar phantom. In this study, the internal density distribution and uniformity of the agar phantom were confirmed to be appropriate as a tissue equivalent material by analysis of CT images and a computerized radiation therapy planning system.