• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.284-292
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• 2016

Water supplied through dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) has been shown to contain high number of bacteria. To reduce the contamination of DUWLs, it is essential to develop effective disinfectants. It is, however, difficulty to obtain proper DUWL samples for studies. The purpose of this study was to establish a simple laboratory model for reproducing DUWL biofilms. The bacteria obtained from DUWLs were cultured in R2A liquid medium for 10 days, and then stored at $-70^{\circ}C$. This stock was inoculated into R2A liquid medium and incubated in batch mode. After 5 days of culturing, it was inoculated into the biofilm formation model developed in this study. Our biofilm formation model comprised of a beaker containing R2A liquid medium and five glass rods attached to DUWL polyurethane tubing. Biofilm was allowed to form on the stir plate and the medium was replaced every 2 days. After 4 days of biofilm formation in the laboratory model, biofilm thickness, morphological characteristics and distribution of the composing bacteria were examined by confocal laser microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The mean of biofilm accumulation was $4.68{\times}10^4$ colony forming unit/$cm^2$ and its thickness was $10{\sim}14{\mu}m$. In our laboratory model, thick bacterial lumps were observed in some parts of the tubing. To test the suitability of this biofilm model system, the effectiveness of disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, and chlorhexidine, was examined by their application to the biofilm formed in our model. Lower concentrations of disinfectants were less effective in reducing the count of bacteria constituting the biofilm. These results showed that our DUWL biofilm laboratory model was appropriate for comparison of disinfectant effects. Our laboratory model is expected to be useful for various other purposes in further studies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1833-1841
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• 2000

Microelectrode probe was made and applied to the biofilm in the biological treatment process as the state-of-art technology in order to actually measure the biofilm thickness, ionic concentration gradient, and material transport, etc. instead of classical theoretical approach. The working microelectrode, one of the main components of microelectrode probe, was easily contaminated and broken when determining the differences in the ionic concentrations through the measurement of biofilm's EMF (electromotive force). As a demonstration, two microelectrode probes were constructed in our lab for the measurement of the pH and $NO_3{^-}$ concentration in denitrifying biofilm. The microelectrode probe through the inner biofilm ($350{\mu}m$ from the surface of biofilm) showed that the pH was increased from pH 8 in the bulk solution to pH 8.3, on the other hand, the $NO_3{^-}$ concentration was decreased from 30 fig N/L in the bulk solution to 4 fig N/L.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.523-532
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and organic loading rate (OLR) on microbial characteristics and treatment efficiency in sewage treatment using aerated submerged biological filter (ASBF) reactor. This reactor combines biodegradation of organic substrates by fixed biomass with a physical separation of biomass by filtration in a single reactor. Both simulated wastewater and domestic wastewater were used as feed solutions. The experimental conditions were a temperature of 17 to $27^{\circ}C$, a hydraulic retention time of 1 to 9hr, an organic loading rate of 0.47 to $3.84kg\;BOD/m^3{\cdot}day$ in ASBF reactor. This equipment could obtain a stable effluent quality in spite of high variation of influent loading rate. Total biomass concentration. biofilm thickness and biofilm mass increased an exponential function according to the increasing OLR. The relationships between water content and biofilm density were in inverse proportion. The percentage of backwash water to influent flow was almost 9%. The separation efficiency of biomass was the percentage of 91 to 92 in ASBF reactor. The sludge production rates in feed solutions of simulated wastewater and domestic wastewater were 0.14~0.26 kg VSS/kg BODrem, 0.43~0.48 kg VSS/kg BODrem, respectively.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.283-289
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• 2017

The water discharged from dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) is heavily contaminated with bacteria. The development of efficient disinfectants is required to maintain good quality DUWL water. The purpose of this study was to establish a DUWL biofilm model using well-plates to confirm the effectiveness of disinfectants in the laboratory. Bacteria were obtained from the water discharged from DUWLs and incubated in R2A liquid medium for 10 days. The bacterial solution cultured for 10 days was made into stock and these stocks were incubated in R2A broth and batch mode for 5 days. Batch-cultured bacterial culture solution and polyurethane tubing sections were incubated in 12-well plates for 4 days. Biofilm accumulation was confirmed through plating on R2A solid medium. In addition, the thickness of the biofilm and the shape and distribution of the constituent bacteria were confirmed using confocal laser microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The average accumulation of the cultured biofilm over 4 days amounted to $1.15{\times}10^7CFU/cm^2$. The biofilm was widely distributed on the inner surface of the polyurethane tubing and consisted of cocci, short-length rods and medium-length rods. The biofilm thickness ranged from $2{\mu}m$ to $7{\mu}m$. The DUWL biofilm model produced in this study can be used to develop disinfectants and study DUWL biofilm-forming bacteria.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.219-230
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the characteristics of single- and dualspecies in vitro oral biofilms made by static and dynamic methods. Methods: Hydroxyapatite (HA) disks, 12.7 mm in diameter and 3 mm thick, were coated with processed saliva for 4 hours. The disks were divided into a static method group and a dynamic method group. The disks treated with a static method were cultured in 12-well plates, and the disks in the dynamic method group were cultured in a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) biofilm reactor for 72 hours. In the single- and dual-species biofilms, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Porphyromonas gingivalis were used, and the amount of adhering bacteria, proportions of species, and bacterial reduction of chlorhexidine were examined. Bacterial adhesion was examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Results: Compared with the biofilms made using the static method, the biofilms made using the dynamic method had significantly lower amounts of adhering and looser bacterial accumulation in SEM and CLSM images. The proportion of P. gingivalis was higher in the dynamic method group than in the static method group; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the biofilm thickness and bacterial reduction by chlorhexidine showed no significant differences between the 2 methods. Conclusions: When used to reproduce periodontal biofilms composed of F. nucleatum and P. gingivalis, the dynamic method (CDC biofilm reactor) formed looser biofilms containing fewer bacteria than the well plate. However, this difference did not influence the thickness of the biofilms or the activity of chlorhexidine. Therefore, both methods are useful for mimicking periodontitis-associated oral biofilms.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.207-217
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• 1992

In this study, isolated and cultured nitrogen fixed microbes were seeded in the three-phase fluidized bed in which gas, solid and liquid were contacted directly. Input velocity was varied from 8.12 cm/hr to 16.32 cm/hr. And upflow gas pressure was fixed to 80 psi. Return ratios were from 0.2 to 0.6 with the each experimental condition. According to these condition, movement of media, growth of biofilm and removal efficiency were measured. As the results, in case of briquette ash, biofilm was developed to $170{\mu}m$ when velocity was 8.12 cm/hr and return ratio was 0.6. In this condition, COD removal efficiency was 97% and $NH_4$-N removal efficiency was 83%. At the same condition, biofilm thickness of glass bead was $17.59{\mu}m$ and its COD and $NH_4$-N removal efficiency was 83% and 72%. Nitrogen fixed microbes have following characters: it formed dark-brownish sludge, excellent adhesive force, easy solid-liquid separation and low oxygen uptake ratio, but sensitive to DO concentration. Not only it endured shock loading, but required short time to steady state.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.285-293
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• 2017

The effects of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) on the corrosion and scaling of the Q235 carbon steel has been investigated in the simulated sewage water and oil field gathering pipelines production water, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS), and three-dimensional stereoscopic microscope. Results indicated that the concentration of SRB reached the maximum value on the ninth day in simulated sewage water with a large amount of scaling on the surface of specimen. In oil field gathering pipelines, a large amount of scaling and mineralization of mineral salts and thick deposition of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) layers were also observed on the surface of specimen. The thickness of biofilm was about $245{\mu}m$ within 30 days. After adding microbicides, the thickness of corrosion products film was only up to $48-106{\mu}m$ within 30 days, suggesting that SRB could induce biomineralization. Under-deposit corrosion morphology was uniform in the absence of microbicides while local corrosion was observed in the presence of microbicides.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.681-695
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• 2014

In a pilot-scale dyeing wastewater treatment using two-type fluidizing media, each thickness of biofilm was 15 and 30 ${\mu}m$, respectively. The numbers of protozoa inhabited in small-size (PEMT A) and big-size (PEMT B) media were $7.5{\times}10^4$ and $1.25{\times}10^5$ cells/ml, respectively, and dominant species were Entosiphon sulcatus var sulcatus in PEMT A and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in PEMT B, respectively. Flask experiments using the two media revealed that the percentages of color removal were 25.8% in PEMT A and 27.1% in PEMT B after 72-h cultivation, indicating the necessity of bioaugmentation. Experiments for bioaugmentation effect on color removal were carried out in the pilot-scale treatment for 75 d by three-step operation under the control of wastewater loading rate and microbial input rate. Dye degradation occurred mainly in the second reaction tank, and the attachment of augmented dye-degrading microorganisms to media took at least 35 d. Final value of chromaticity in effluent was 227, meeting the required standard. Therefore bioaugmentation onto media was good for color treatment. In summary, thickness of biofilm formed on the media depended upon the size of media, resulting in different ecosystem inside the media. Hence, this affected microbial community and color treatment further. Accordingly, the reduction of operation cost is expected by efficient color-treatment process using bioaugmented media.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.502-509
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• 1993

Submerged filter process was used to evaluate the nitrifying efficiency of ammonia in the recycling water of marine aquatic culture system. The ammonia removal efficiency was achieved as high as $99\%$ at the hydraulic surface loading rate of up to $4.3{\ell}/m^2-day$. And the nitrite accumulation did not occur in the reactor even when the hydraulic surface loading rate of up to $36.8{\ell}/m^2day$ was applied. In the present study, the relationship between the effluent ammonia concentration and ammonia surface loading rate was formulated as an equation. The attachment rate of biofilm on the filter media at the ammonia surface loading rate of 62.3 and $311.7mg/m^2day$ was 15 and $55mg/m^2-day$, respectively, showing the linear relationship between the attachment rate and ammonia loading rates. Biofilm thickness and density of the filter media were found to be the function of the ammonia loading rate.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.345-350
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• 1991

The purpose of this study is to investigate biomass characteristics and organic removal efficiency by changing superficial upflow velocity and organic loading rate in treating alcoholic distillery wastewater. Since the biomass concentration and the thickness of biofilm are very sensitive to superficial upflow velocity, a high concentration of biomass could be achieved by decreasing superficial upflow velocity that lowered the organic removal efficiency. Therefore, superficial upflow velocity should be controlled as to give optimum conditions and removal efficiency. Generally, activated sludge system shows 70% COD removal efficiency at$1.5kgCOD/m^3{\cdot}day$, but the fluidized-bed biofllm reactor shows 80% COD removal efficiency even at 6kgCOD/$m^2{\cdot}day$.