• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.817-823
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• 2009

We investigated the effects of storage temperature and packaging treatment on the freshness of high-quality 'Fuji' apples to improve consumer confidence in the maintenance of high fruit quality during distribution. A 0.35 mm-deep PET tray form-sealed with a 0.05 mm LDPE film lid was developed and tested with the aim of optimizing gas composition within the package headspace to utilize potential modified atmosphere (MA) storage to maintain the freshness of apples. Weight loss, color difference, firmness, respiration rate, gas concentrations in packages, acidity, solid soluble content, and fruit decay rate were measured during storage at $5^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$. The results showed that respiration rate, weight loss, color difference, and firmness were lower and overall quality better during storage at $5^{\circ}C$ compared with $25^{\circ}C$. Also, the fruits packed in the functional tray form showed a low level of quality changes compared with the control (no packaging). The accumulated gasconcentrations in the headspace of the packages decreased from 21% to 12% $O_2$ and increased from 0% to 5% $CO_2$ (v/v) on day 7, and after remained at those levels thereafter. Soluble solid contents and total acidities of the packaged fruits were in the range of $11\;-\;14^{\circ}Brix$ and 0.2 0.3% during storage. Decay rates in the control and packaged fruits were more than 20% and less than 10% at 3 weeks, respectively. Based on the standard acceptable level (less than 10%) of total weight loss, it could be estimated that the shelf life of top-quality fruits packed in functional trays was 3 weeks at $5^{\circ}C$ and 16 weeks at $25^{\circ}C$, whereas the shelf life of the control fruit was 1 week and 12 weeks, respectively. For the top-quality fruit "Fuji" apples, the best results were obtained with a functional tray form for packaging treatment and a storage temperature of $5^{\circ}C$.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2013

The effects of chlorine dioxide gas ($ClO_2$) treatments between high-concentration-short-time and low-concentration-long-time on maintaining the quality of cherry tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv 'unicorn') were investigated. Tomatoes were treated with 5 ppm for 10 min and 10 ppm for 3 min as high-concentration-short-time $ClO_2$ gas treatment conditions and 1 ppm for once a day interval in terms of low-concentration-long-time $ClO_2$ gas treatment condition, respectively. After $ClO_2$ gas treatments, tomatoes were storage at 5 and $23^{\circ}C$ for 7 days. Weight loss, changes in tomato color, firmness, soluble solids content, pH, growth of total microorganism, and decay rate were evaluated. On day 7, tomatoes treated with chlorine dioxide gas showed low values of respiratory rate, total microbial growth, and decay rate compared to those of tomato without chlorine dioxide gas treatment. Additionally, tomatoes treated the chlorine dioxide were kept the values of firmness and soluble solids content during storage. However, chlorine dioxide gas treatment on tomatoes had no direct effect on weight loss, pH, and color. Results showed that both $ClO_2$ concentration and treatment time played the important roles for keeping the quality of tomatoes during storage. Tomatoes with chlorine dioxide gas treatment of low-concentration-long-time had more effective values of firmness, the total microbial growth, and decay rate than those with two chlorine dioxide gas treatments of high-concentration-short-time. Results suggest the potential use of chlorine dioxide gas treatment of low-concentration-long-time as an highly effective method for keeping the freshness of cherry tomato.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 1986

The decomposition of litters of Pinus densiflora and the growth of microbial populations in a calcareous region, Youngwal were compared with those in a noncalcareous region, Sinlim. The decay rate of litter in Pinus densiflora in Youngwal was 0.128 and that in Sinlim was 0.096. The differences in the populations of soil bacteria and total microorganisms between the two regions were signficant at the 5% level, but that of fungi and actinomycetes was not at that level. The differences in the content of calcium and pH value of soil between the two regions were significant at the 1% level. The excessive content of calcium became to increase pH value, in turn the high pH decreased the content of available phosphorus in soil. The vertical distribution of the content of available phsophorus was consistent with that of the populations of fungi and actinomycetes in Youngwal.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 1994

This research investigated efficient operation mode for the successful performance of SBR(sequencing batch reactor) treating fish processing wastewater, and the effect of sodium chloride (NaCl) on treatment efficiency. 2-hour-annerobic, 6-hour-aerobic and 3-hour-anoxic operation during reaction period was found an effective operating method for organic and nitrogen removal from fish processing wastewater in SBR system. The average removal efficiencies of COD, BOD, and total nitrogen in SBR operated continuousely were 91%, 95%, and 67.1%, respectively. The estimated values of biomass yield coefficient(Y), microbial decay coefficient($K_d$), and bioreaction rate constant(K) were $0.35gMLSS/gCOD_{removed}$, $0.015day^{-1}$, and $0.209hr^{-1}$, respectively. As NaCl concentration increased from 5 to 30g/L, sludge settleability was cnhanced but organic removal in the reactor was decreased. NaCl of influent had considerable relationship with COD removal, whereas it did not significant affect nitrogen removal.

• Journal of Urban Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.13-20
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• 2020

The Recently, several countries have been affected by respiratory diseases, resulting in renewed research interest in their prevention and control. One such example was the 2015 outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea and COVID-19. In this study, we performed experiments and simulations based on concentration decay using CO2 as the tracer gas to elucidate the pollutant-removal efficiency for different inlet and exhaust locations and outdoor air-supply ratios. The wall inlet exhibited a higher pollutant-removal efficiency, owing to the upward movement of the air from the lower zone to the upper one. In conclusion, it is recommended that a total air-conditioning plan for isolation rooms be established as well as efficient system operation for pollutant removal and air-flow control to prevent the transmission of infections from the patients to others.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.41-55
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• 2018

Damping ratio and frequency have influence on dynamic serviceability or instability such as vortex-induced vibration and displacement amplification due to earthquake and critical flutter velocity, and it is thus important to make determination of damping ratio and frequency accurate. As bridges are getting longer, small scale model test considering similitude law must be conducted to evaluate damping ratio and frequency. Analysis conditions modified by similitude law are applied to experimental test considering different scale ratios. Generally, Nyquist frequency condition based on natural frequency modified by similitude law has been used to determine sampling rate for different scale ratios, and total time length has been determined by users arbitrarily or by considering similitude law with respect to time for different scale ratios. However, Nyquist frequency condition is not suitable for multimode system with noisy signals. In addition, there is no specified criteria for determination of total time length. Those analysis conditions severely affect accuracy of damping ratio. The focus of this study is made on the determination of minimum analysis conditions for different scale ratios. Influence of signal to noise ratio is studied according to the level of noise level. Free initial value problem is proposed to resolve the condition that is difficult to know original initial value for free vibration. Ambient and free vibration tests were used to analyze the dynamic properties of a system using data collected from tests with a two degree-of-freedom section model and performed on full bridge 3D models of cable stayed bridges. The free decay is estimated with the stochastic subspace identification method that uses displacement data to measure damping ratios under noisy conditions, and the iterative least squares method that adopts low pass filtering and fourth order central differencing. Reasonable results were yielded in numerical and experimental tests.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.275-278
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• 2002

The recognition of the natural background radiation is important not only for radiological education but also for the promotion of people's scientific view about radiation. We made a "room" on the web showing natural background radiation as part of a VRM (Virtual Radiation Museum). The "room" shows the video images of the tracks of charged particles from natural background radiation, alpha and beta ray track from known sources using a Large Scale Diffusion Cloud Chamber. The purpose of this study is to make clear the origin of a kind of track (named A-track) which is thick and easy to recognize with the length less than several cm in the cloud chamber, and to make numerical explanation of its counting rate. The study was carried out using a Large Scale Diffusion Cloud Chamber (Phywe, Germany) installed in the Niigata Science Museum. The Model RNC (Pylon Electronics, Canada) was used as Rn-222 source. Ra-226 activity in RNC was 111.6 Bq calibrated with NIST protocol. Rn-222 gas was injected into the cloud chamber. Continuous video recording with use of Digital Handycam (SONY, Japan) was carried out for 360 min. after injection of Rn-222 gas. The number of alpha-ray track (alpha track) in the video images was analyzed. The growth and decay curve of the total activity of Rn-222 and its alpha emitting progeny were calculated and compared with the count of the alpha tracks. As a result the alpha tracks formed by Rn-222 injection resemble A-Tracks. The relationship between A-track in the cloud chamber and atmospheric Rn is discussed.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.33-42
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• 2005

Wetlands often function as a nutrient sink. It is well known that increased input of nutrient increases the primary productivity but it is not well understood what is the fate of produced biomass in wetland ecosystem. Water and sediment quality, decomposition rate of cellulose, and sediment accumulation rate in 11 montane marshes in northern Sierra Nevada, California were analyzed to trace the effect of nitrogen and phosphorus content in water on nutrient dynamics. Concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in water were in the range of 27 to 607, 8 to 73, and 6 to 109 ppb, respectively. Concentrations of ammonium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium in water were the highest in Markleeville, which has been impacted by animal farming. Nitrate and SRP concentrations in water were the highest in Snow Creek, which has been impacted by human residence and a golf course. Cellulose decomposition rates ranged from 4 to 75 % per 90 days and the highest values were measured in Snow Creek. Concentrations of total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in sediment ranged from 8.0 to 42.8, 0.5 to 3.0, and 0.076 to 0.162 %, respectively. Accumulation rates of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus fluctuated between 32.7 to 97.1, 2.4 to 9.0, and 0.08 to $1.14gm^{-2}yr{-1}$, respectively. Accumulation rates of carbon and nitrogen were highest in Markleeville and that of phosphorus was highest in Lake Van Norden. Correlation analysis showed that decay rate is correlated with ammonium, nitrate, and SRP in water. There was no correlation between element content in sediment and water quality. Nitrogen accumulation rate was correlated with ammonium in water. These results showed that element accumulation rates in montane wetland ecosystems are determined by decomposition rate rather than nutrient input. This study stresses a need for eco-physiological researches on the response of microbial community to increased nutrient input and environmental change because the microbial community is responsible for the decomposition process.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.59-67
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• 2023

Background: This study aims to reevaluate natural radiation exposure, following up on our previous study conducted in 2019, and to assess the associated risk of lung cancer to the public residing in the gold mining areas of Betare-Oya, east Cameroon, and its vicinity. Materials and Methods: Gamma-ray spectra collected using a 7.62 cm×7.62 cm in NaI(Tl) scintillation spectrometer during a car-borne survey, in situ measurements and laboratory measurements performed in previous studies were used to determine the outdoor absorbed dose rate in air to evaluate the annual external dose inhaled by the public. For determining internal exposure, radon gas concentrations were measured and used to estimate the inhalation dose while considering the inhalation of radon and its decay products. Results and Discussion: The mean value of the laboratory-measured outdoor gamma dose rate was 47 nGy/hr, which agrees with our previous results (44 nGy/hr) recorded through direct measurements (in situ and car-borne survey). The resulting annual external dose (0.29±0.09 mSv/yr) obtained is similar to that of the previous study (0.33±0.03 mSv/yr). The total inhalation dose resulting from radon isotopes and their decay products ranged between 1.96 and 9.63 mSv/yr with an arithmetic mean of 3.95±1.65 mSv/yr. The resulting excess lung cancer risk was estimated; it ranged from 62 to 216 excess deaths per million persons per year (MPY), 81 to 243 excess deaths per MPY, or 135 excess deaths per MPY, based on whether risk factors reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of Atomic Radiation, or International Commission on Radiological Protection were used, respectively. These values are more than double the world average values reported by the same agencies. Conclusion: There is an elevated level of risk of lung cancer from indoor radon in locations close to the Betare-Oya gold mining region in east Cameroon. Therefore, educating the public on the harmful effects of radon exposure and considering some remedial actions for protection against radon and its progenies is necessary.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.499-509
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• 2000

Next to carbon dioxide, methane is the second largest contributor to global warming among anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Methane is emitted into the atmosphere from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Natural sources include wetlands, termites, wildries, ocean and freshwater. Anthropogenic sources include landfill, natural gas and oil production, and agriculture. These manmade sources account for about 70% of total global methane emissions; and among these, landfill accounts for approximately 10% of total manmade emissions. Solid waste landfills produce methane as bacteria decompose organic wastes under anaerobic conditions. Methane accounts for approximately 45 to 50 percent of landfill gas, while carbon dioxide and small quantities of other gases comprise the remaining to 50 to 55 percent. Using the closed enclosure technique, surface emission fluxes of methane from the selected landfill sites were measured. These data were used to estimate national methane emission rate from domestic landfills. During the three different periods, flux experiments were conducted at the sites from June 30 through December 26, 1999. The chamber technique employed for these experiments was validated in situ. Samples were collected directly by on-site flux chamber and analyzed for the variation of methane concentration by gas chromatography equipped with FID. Surface emission rates of methane were found out to vary with space and time. Significant seasonal variation was observed during the experimental period. Methane emission rates were estimated to be 64.5$\pm$54.5mgCH$_4$/$m^2$/hr from Kimpo landifll site. 357.4$\pm$68.9mgCH$_4$/$m^2$/hr and 8.1$\pm$12.4mgCH$_4$/$m^2$/hr at KwanJu(managed and unmanaged), 472.7$\pm$1056mgCH$_4$/$m^2$/hr at JonJu, and 482.4$\pm$1140 mgCH$_4$/$m^2$/hr at KunSan. These measurement data were used for the extrapolation of national methane emission rate based on 1997 national solid waste data. The results were compared to those derived by theoretical first decay model suggested by IPCC guidelines.