• Title/Summary/Keyword: degree of contamination

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Development of low-cost, compact, real-time, and wireless radiation monitoring system in underwater environment

  • Kim, Jeong Ho;Park, Ki Hyun;Joo, Koan Sik
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.50 no.5
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    • pp.801-805
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    • 2018
  • In this study, an underwater radiation detector was built using a GAGG(Ce) scintillator and silicon photomultiplier to establish an underwater radiation exposure monitoring system. The GAGG(Ce) scintillator is suitable for small radiation detectors as it strongly absorbs gamma rays and has a high light emission rate with no deliquescent properties. Additionally, the silicon photomultiplier is a light sensor with characteristics such as small size and low applied voltage. Further, a program and mobile app were developed to monitor the radiation coefficient values generated from the detector. According to the results of the evaluation of the characteristics of the underwater radiation monitoring system, when tested for its responsiveness to radiation intensity and reactivity, the system exhibited a coefficient of determination of at least 0.99 with respect to the radiation source distance. Additionally, when tested for its underwater environmental temperature dependence, the monitoring system exhibited an increase in the count rate up to a certain temperature because of the increasing dark current and a decrease in the count rate because of decreasing overvoltage. Extended studies based on the results of this study are expected to greatly contribute to immediate and continuing evaluation of the degree of radioactive contamination in underwater environments.

A Monoclonal Antibody That Specifically Binds Chitosan In Vitro and In Situ on Fungal Cell Walls

  • Schubert, Max;Agdour, Siham;Fischer, Rainer;Olbrich, Yvonne;Schinkel, Helga;Schillberg, Stefan
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.20 no.8
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    • pp.1179-1184
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    • 2010
  • We report the generation of the first monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to the polysaccharide chitosan. Mice were immunized with a mixture of chitosans, and hybridoma clones were screened for specific binders, resulting in the isolation of a single clone secreting a chitosan-specific IgM, mAbG7. In ELISAs, the antibody could bind to chitosans of varying composition, but demonstrated the highest affinity for chitosans with lower degrees of acetylation (DA) and very poor binding to chitin. We tested the ability of the antibody to bind to chitosan in situ, using preparations of fungal cell walls. Immunofluorescence microscopy confirmed that the antibody bound strongly to the cell walls of fungi with high levels of chitosan, whereas poor staining was observed in those species with cell walls of predominantly chitin or cellulose. The potential use of this antibody for the detection of fungal contamination and the protection of plants against fungal pathogens is discussed.

A Study on the Variation of Resistivity of the Unsaturated Sandy Soils Contaminated by Leachate (침출수로 오염된 불포화사질토의 전기비저항 변화에 대한 연구)

  • Yoon, Chun-Gyeong;Yoo, Chan
    • Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.112-122
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    • 1998
  • Measurement of electrical resistivity in soils has been used for many years with purpose of estimating in situ porosity or density. Recently electrical resistivity has also been used as an indicator of soil contaimination. This paper presents the result of laboratory experiment to investigate the resistivity variation in contaminated sandy soils. The results can be used with the Cone Penetrometer Test (CPT) result to analyse ground condition. In the experiment, the water content and leachate concentration of soils were controlled by groundwater and leachate, and then the resistivity measurement was made with 'STING-R1' by Advanced Geosciences Inc. In the case of using groundwater, the resistivity was in the range of over 1000${\omega}{\cdot}m$, but in the case of using polluted water by leachate, the resistivity decreased significantly down to 10~ 100${\omega}{\cdot}m$ for the same moisture content. Also the resistivity varied according to the degree of saturatrion. Therefore, if soil is contaminated by leachate, the CPT with electrical resistivity sensor might be used to investigate the contamination status and plume migration. But exact component of leachate and the pollutant concentration are still hard to identify.

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Improving the Microbial Safety of Fresh-Cut Endive with a Combined Treatment of Cinnamon Leaf Oil Emulsion Containing Cationic Surfactants and Ultrasound

  • Park, Jun-Beom;Kang, Ji-Hoon;Song, Kyung Bin
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.28 no.4
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    • pp.503-509
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    • 2018
  • Endive is widely consumed in a fresh-cut form owing to its rich nutritional content. However, fresh-cut vegetables are susceptible to contamination by pathogenic bacteria. This study investigated the antibacterial activities of the combined treatment of cinnamon leaf oil emulsion containing cetylpyridinium chloride or benzalkonium chloride (CLC and CLB, respectively) as a cationic surfactant and ultrasound (US) against Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on endive. The combined treatment of CLC or CLB with US reduced the population of L. monocytogenes by 1.58 and 1.47 log colony forming units (CFU)/g, respectively, and that of E. coli O157:H7 by 1.60 and 1.46 log CFU/g, respectively, as compared with water washing treatment. The reduction levels of both pathogens were higher than those observed with 0.2 mg/ml sodium hypochlorite. In addition, the combined treatment showed no effect on the quality of the fresh-cut endive (FCE). In particular, the degree of browning in FCE was less for the treatment group than for the control and water washing treatment groups. Thus, cationic surfactant-based cinnamon leaf oil emulsions combined with US may be an effective washing treatment for the microbial safety of FCE.

Molecular Characterization of Seaweeds Using RAPD and Differential Display

  • HONG Yong-Ki;KIM Yong-Tae;KIM Se-Kwon
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.29 no.6
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    • pp.770-778
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    • 1996
  • A rapid and economical method of simultaneous extraction of DNA and RNA from seaweeds has been developed by the use of lithium chloride. Lithium chloride facilitates the softening of cell walls resulting in a decrease in both compressive and tensile modulus of elasticity. The DNA was characterized by high molecular weight larger than 27 kb and a relative lack of carbohydrate and protein contamination. The DNA and RNA extracted by the method from many seaweeds were of sufficient quality to be used as a template for per amplification with a plant intergenic gene primer set, for RAPD analysis with arbitrary primers, and for differential display with arbitrary primers in the morphologically distinct regions of the matured Porphyra thallus. The cDNA polymorphism indicated that the reproductive tissue types (male, female, patch) had a relatively high degree of similarity; the vegetative tissue types (dividing, non-dividing) also showed a similar pattern with respect to each other. Holdfast tissue had very low similarity with the other tissues, but appeared most similar to vegetative non-dividing tissue type.

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Comparison of the Characteristics of Reservoir and Stream Sediments in Kum River basin (금강권역의 호소 및 하천 퇴적물 특성 비교)

  • Hwang, Jong-Yeon;Han, Eui-Jung;Kim, Tae-Keun;Yu, Soon-Ju;Yoon, Young-Sam;Chung, Yong-Soon
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.135-143
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    • 1998
  • In order to study the general characteristics of reservoir and stream sediments, various analysis tests were conducted. Water contents and ignition loss were measured to know the primary sediment characteristics. The COD, total phosphorus and nitrogen were contained for the determination of organic substance content. For the purpose of establishing the contamination degree of heavy metals, some heavy metal contents were investigated. In heavy metal contents, reservoir sediments showed somewhat higer value than stream sediments. As a result, the reservoir sediment content of all analysis items were higher than stream sediment.

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Utilization of Slaughter Porcine Blood as an Animal Feed (도축부산물인 돈혈의 재활용에 관한 연구)

  • 김정학;박강희;류경선;이제훈
    • Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.133-143
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    • 1997
  • Optimal conditions for collecting, storing and drying temperature to utilize slaughter porcine blood for blood meals and the effects of blood meal on growth in broiler chicks were investigated. Dry matter and protein contents of slaughter procine blood were 19.5% and 77%(dry basis), respectively. As for the composites of amino acids in the blood, aspartic acid, arginine, glycine, histidine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanin threonine were shown high. There was no significant difference between the collections by bloodletting and vacuumming in terms of microbial contamination. Storage of slaughter porcine blood showed no differences in protein, DNA and triglyceride contents and pH between the storage methods of freezing (-20$^{\circ}C$) and refrigerating (-4$^{\circ}C$). In case of room temperature storage, however, the decrease in pH and the appearance of new protein due to microbial contaminations increased as the storage periods were prolonged. When drying was done by flash methods, the drying period got shortened as the temperature became higher, yet protein and triglyceride were destoryed more. When drying was done over 120$^{\circ}C$, even at the same degree, the breakdowns of protein and triglyceride increased more as drying period got longer. In feeding trials of broiler chicks, dietary supplementation of the flash dried blood meal at 2% level showed significant difference in growth rate(P<.05%). These results indicated that the appropriate handling and manufacturing of slaughter porcine blood enabled the blood to be used as a protein source for broiler chicks.

Electrical Conduction Properties of Surface in Materials for Outdoor Insulator (옥외 애자용 재료의 표면 전기전도 특성)

  • 박영국;이운석;정수현;장동욱;임기조
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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    • v.11 no.10
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    • pp.758-762
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    • 1998
  • Electrical conduction property of insulator surface is most important factor to assess the insulation performances of outdoor insulating materials. In this paper, contamination performance of the materials to be used for outdoor insulator such as porcelain, EPDM, silicone rubber was discussed by measuring properties of average leakage current and scintillation discharge pulses under salt fog conditions. The fog was applied by nozzle in chamber and fogging fluids were deionized distilled water, 0.5wt% NaCI solution and 2wt% NaCl solution. The average leakage current showed linearly with applied voltage at dry and clean surface condition. The magnitude of leakage current was almost same at different kinds of samples. In case of deionized distilled water fog, the characteristics of leakage current and applied voltage were much different to those in case of dry and clean condition with 2wt% salt fog. In case of slat fog pollution condition, the leakage current was increased above critical voltage. the scintillation discharges were also activated at the level. The leakage current and scintillation discharges were increased with increasing pollution degree. The resistance to pollution properties of silicone rubber appeared excellent among them.

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Investigation of Degradative Signals on Outdoor Solid Insulators Using Continuous Wavelet Transform

  • Uzunoglu, Cengiz Polat
    • Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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    • v.11 no.3
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    • pp.683-689
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    • 2016
  • Most outdoor solid insulators may suffer from surface degradations due to non-stationary currents that flow on the insulator surface. These currents may be classified as leakage, discharge and tracking currents due to their disturbing potencies respectively. The magnitude of these currents depends on the degree of the contamination of surface. The leakage signals are followed by discharge signals and tracking signals which are capable of forming carbonized tracking paths on the surface between high voltage and earth contacts (surface tracking). Surface tracking is one of the most breakdown mechanisms observed on the solid insulators, especially polymers which may cause severely reduced lifetime. In this study the degradations observed on polyester resin based insulators are investigated according to the IEC 587 Inclined Plane Test Standard. The signals are monitored and recorded during tests until surface tracking initiated. In order to prevent total breakdown of an insulator, early detection of tracking signals is vital. Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) is proposed for classification of signals and their energy levels observed on the surface. The application of CWT for processing and classification of the surface signals which are prone to display high frequency oscillations can facilitate real time monitoring of the system for diagnosis.

Development of a Predictive Model Describing the Growth of Staphylococcus aureus in Ready-to-Eat Sandwiches (즉석섭취 샌드위치에서의 Staphylococcus aureus 성장예측모델 개발)

  • Park, Hae-Jung;Bae, Hyun-Joo
    • Journal of the FoodService Safety
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.91-96
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    • 2021
  • This study was performed to provide fundamental data on hygiene and quality control of ready-to-eat sandwiches. Predictive models were developed to the kinetics of Staphylococcus aureus growth in these sandwiches as a function of temperature (10, 15, 25, and 35℃). The result of the primary model that used the Gompertz equation showed that the lag phase duration (LPD) and generation time (GT) decreased and the exponential growth rate (EGR) increased with increasing storage temperature. The secondary model showed an R2 for M and B of 0.9967 and 09916, respectively. A predictive growth model of the growth degree as a function of temperature was developed. L(t)=A+Cexp(-exp(-B(t-M))) (A=Initial contamination level, C=MPD-A, B=0.473166-0.045040*Temp-0.001718*Temp*Temp, M=19.924824-0.627442*Temp-0.004493*Temp*Temp, t=time, Temp=temperature). This model showed an R2 value of 0.9288. All the models developed in this study showed a good fit.