• Mycobiology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2020

Soil degradation can have an impact on the soil microbiota, but its specific effects on soil fungal communities are poorly understood. In this work, we studied the impact of soil degradation on the richness and diversity of communities of soil fungi, including three different degrees of degradation in Germany and Panama. Soil fungi were isolated monthly using the soil-sprinkling method for 8 months in Germany and 3 months in Panama, and characterized by morphological and molecular data. Soil physico-chemical properties were measured and correlated with the observed values of fungal diversity. We isolated a total of 71 fungal species, 47 from Germany, and 32 from Panama. Soil properties were not associated with fungal richness, diversity, or composition in soils, with the exception of soil compaction in Germany. The geographic location was a strong determinant of the soil fungal species composition although in both countries there was dominance by members of the orders Eurotiales and Hypocreales. In conclusion, the results of this work do not show any evident influence of soil degradation on communities of soil fungi in Germany or Panama.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.311-318
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• 2016

This paper shows storage life estimation of next IR(infrared) flare material through accelerated degradation tests. Three temperature conditions for the accelerated degradation tests are 55, 65 and $75^{\circ}C$. Six performances of IR flare material are burning time, IR peak/continuous Intensity, total energy of near/mid-IR and color ratio, and they were measured after the tests. Storage life of the IR flare material was estimated through both analyzing the degradation data of those performances and applying distribution-based degradation models to the data. Over 30 years of storage life at $20^{\circ}C$ is estimated in terms of IR peak intensity with reliability 0.99 and confidence level 99 %. Additionally, 10 years of storage period at $21^{\circ}C$ would be equivalent to 68 days of accelerated test at $65^{\circ}C$ from the activation energy in Arrhenius model.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.185-187
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• 1998

Pseudomonas putida KCTC 2401 degrades 1,1, 2-trichloroethylene (TCE) using phenol as a cosubstrate. The initial TCE degradation rate decreased with the initial TCE concentration up to 20mg/l of TCE at $30^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.5. The initial degradation rate and total removal efficiency increased with inoculum size. The strain also degraded dichloroacetic acid, which was supposed to be a degradation by-product. Phenol monooxygenase apparently participates in the TCE degradation mechanism.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.316-319
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• 2011

Biopiles which offer the potential for cost-effective treatment of contaminated soils are above-ground, engineered systems that use oxygen to stimulate the growth and reproduction of aerobic bacteria for degradation of the petroleum constituents adsorbed to soil in excavated soils. This technology involves heaping contaminated soils into piles and stimulating aerobic microbial activity within the soils through the aeration and/or addition of minerals, nutrients, and moisture. Inside the biopile, microbially mediated reactions by blowing or extracting air through the pipes can enhance degradation of the organic contaminants. The influence of a aeration system on the biopile performance was investigated. Air pressure made to compare the efficiency of suction in the pipes showed that there were slightly significant difference between the two piles in the total amount of TPH biodegradation. The normalised degradation rate was, however, considerably higher in the aeration system than in the normal system without aeration, suggesting that the vertical venting method may have improved the efficiency of the biological reactions in the pile.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.309-312
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• 2003

A bacterial strain NB01, isolated from wastewater, was found to utilize nitrobenzene (NB) as the sole source of nitrogen, carbon, and energy. The strain was classified as a member of a high G+C Gram-positive group and identified as Mycobacterium chelonae based on an analysis of its 16S rRNA gene sequence. The strain grew on NB with a concomitant release of about 63% of the total available nitrogen as ammonia, suggesting a reductive degradation mechanism. The optimal pH and temperature for degradation were PH 7.0-8.0 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The cell growth was retarded at NB concentrations above 1.8 mM. The degradation of NB followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics within the tolerance range, and the $K_m$ and maximum specific removal rate for NB were 0.33 mM and $11.04\;h^{-1}$, respectively.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.651-658
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• 2008

Poly(butylene succiate) (PBS), poly(butylene succinate-co-L-lactate) (PBSL), and poly(butylene succinate-co-6-hydroxycaproate) (PBSCL) polymers were degraded by lipase $PS^{(R)}$, and the enzymatic degradation mechanism of PBS was analyzed in detail. The enzymatic degradation of PBS gave 4-hydroxybutyl succinate (4HBS) as the main product. An exo-type hydrolysis mechanism was proposed based on this observation. The terminal chain of PBS had conformational similarity to ordinary tri- and diglycerides and could be incorporated as a substrate in the active site of this lipase. The surface adsorption of the lipase was much larger on PBS and its copolymer films than on the other polyester films because the lipase adhered quite strongly to the polymer terminal through a specific adsorption mechanism. Kinetic analysis showed that the total number of surface adsorption points per unit area of PBSL and PBSCL copolymers was larger than that of the PBS homopolymer.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.901-905
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• 2004

The degradation and mineralization of crude oil were investigated over 50-days in three soils, loamy sand, sand, and combusted loamy, which were artificially contaminated with crude oil (50 g $kg^{-1}$) and inoculated with Nocardia sp. H17-1. The degradation efficiency of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in sand was the highest at 76% among the three soils. The TPH degradation rate constants $(k_{TPH})$ in loamy sand, sand, and combusted loamy sand were 0.027 $d^{-1}$, 0.063 $d^{-1}$, and 0.016 $d^{-1}$, respectively. In contrast, the total amount of $CO_2$ evolved was the highest at 146.1 mmol in loamy sand. The $CO_2$ evolution rate constants (k_{CO2})$ in loamy sand, sand, and combusted loamy sand were 0.057 $d^{-1}$, 0.066 $d^{-1}$, and 0.037 $d^{-1}$, respectively. Therefore, it seems that the degradation of crude oil in soils can be proportional to the soil pore space and that mineralization can be accelerated with the increase of organic substance.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.428-432
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• 1999

This study was performed to investigate the possible effect of sunlight on the reduction or degradation of mycelia and aflatoxins. The mycelia and aflatoxins were produced by Aspergillus parasiticus ATCC 15517 in a yeast-extract sucrose broth (YES) and potato-dextrose agar (PDA) and then exposed to sunlight. The weight of mycelia was decreased to 76.8% in 8 hours and to 66.7% in 168 hours(p<0.05). The total aflatoxin level was significantly decreased to below 50% (46.3% in the YES broth and 49.6% in the PDA) in 8 hours (p<0.05). After 168 hours, a 90.4％ degradation of aflatoxin in the YES broth and a 77.2% degradation of aflatoxin in the PDA was observed, respectively (p<0.01). The results showed that the degradation ratios of total aflatoxin level increased with increased exposure time to sunlight. These results indicate that sunlight could be an effective factor in aflatoxin degradation although its effect on mycelia was less pronounced.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.213-223
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• 2018

Continuous input into the aquatic ecosystem and persistent structures have created concern of antibiotics, primarily due to the potential for the development of antimicrobial resistance. Degradation kinetics and mineralization of vancomycin B (VAN-B) by photocatalysis using $TiO_2$ and ZnO nanoparticles was monitored at natural pH conditions. Photocatalysis (PC) efficiency was followed by means of UV absorbance, total organic carbon (TOC), and HPLC results to better monitor degradation of VAN-B itself. Experiments were run for two initial VAN-B concentrations ($20-50mgL^{-1}$) and using two catalysts $TiO_2$ and ZnO at different concentrations (0.1 and $0.5gL^{-1}$) in a multi-lamp batch reactor system (200 mL water volume). Furthermore, a set of toxicity tests with Daphnia magna was performed to evaluate the potential toxicity of oxidation by-products of VAN-B. Formation of intermediates such as chlorides and nitrates were monitored. A rapid VAN-B degradation was observed in ZnO-PC system (85% to 70% at 10 min), while total mineralization was observed to be relatively slower than $TiO_2-PC$ system (59% to 73% at 90 min). Treatment efficiency and mechanism of degradation directly affected the rate of transformation and by-products formation that gave rise to toxicity in the treated samples.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.92-101
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• 2012

The degradation of one of the commercially important hydrogel based on acrylic acid and acryl amide, (acrylic acid-co-acryl amide) hydrogels, by means of ultrasound irradiation and its combination with heterogeneous ($TiO_2$) was investigated. 24 kHz of ultrasound irradiation was provided by a sonicator, while an ultraviolet source of 16 W was used for UV irradiation. The extent of sonolytic degradation increased with increasing ultrasound power (in the range 30-80 W). $TiO_2$ sonophotocatalysis led to complete (acrylic acid-co-acryl amide) hydrogels degradation with increasing catalyst loading, while, the presence of $TiO_2$ in the dark generally had little effect on degradation. Therefore, emphasis was totally on the sonolytic and sonophotocatalytic degradation of hydrogels and a synergy effect was calculated for combined degradation procedures (Ultrasound and Ultraviolet) in the presence of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. $TiO_2$ sonophotocatalysis was always faster than the respective individual processes due to the enhanced formation of reactive radicals as well as the possible ultrasound-induced increase of the active surface area of the catalyst. A kinetics model based on viscosity data was used for estimation of degradation rate constants at different conditions and a negative order for the dependence of the reaction rate on total molar concentration of (acrylic acid-co-acryl amide) hydrogels solution within the degradation process was suggested.