• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.689-699
• /
• 2003

This study was to examine characteristics of treating toluene vapor, which gets to be problematic due to its harmful carcinogenicity and mass generation from various sources, through a biological treatment facility which is environment-friendly and adopts a high-efficient and low-cost clean technology. In order to identify whether Alnus Firma Fruit (AFF) can be used as a media for a bioreactor, its utility and basic operating factors, a study was conducted on pressure drop, supply of nutrient substances and retention time which are operating factors of a biofilter, and eliminating characteristics were compared between AFF and the conventional biological activatedcarbon (BAC) widely used as filter media. In the case of AFF, the initial microbial deposits was 2.3${\times}$10$^{7}$ CFU/g dry AFF, which represents the initial microbial density higher than the case of BAC showing 5.5${\times}$10$^{6}$ CFU/g dry BAC And it took about 2 weeks to acclimate until its eliminating rate got to be increased over 90%. As a result of comparing pressure loss taking place with the lapse of time between BAC and AFF, after 130 days passed at SV 25h$^{-1}$ , BAC showed that its eliminating efficiency had a tendency to drop greatly due to a great pressure loss (0.53\longrightarrow54.7 mm$H_2O$/m) caused by an excess of biomass as accumulated. On the other hand. AFF showed that the pressure drop was 0.53 mm$H_2O$/m, about 2 times as much as the initial pressure loss of 0.4 mm$H_2O$/m, which represents no great change in the pressure loss, and its eliminating efficiency was also shown to be continuously high. Therefore, when AFF was used as a filler for a biological treatment facility, a biological filter enabling improvement of the purifying efficiency to be promoted could be provided, and moreover, the pressure loss was so small that the filler replacement cycle or the back flushing cycle could be extended. So, even in terms of the operating cost, it was identified to be an economical filler When an inorganic material was used as a filler, the biofilters performance acted sensitively on whether nutrient substances were supplied or not. In the case of AFF with low adsorptivity, addition of ethyl-alcohol increased the solubility of toluene, and consequently, biodegradation got to be actively made by microbes, and thus, its eliminating rate could be increased. As the flow velocity and the inflow concentration got to be more increased, its eliminating rate got to be lower, and particularly, an increase in the flow velocity made its eliminating rate drop more greatly than an increase in the concentration.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.175-179
• /
• 1979

One of the major problems in tile activated sludge system has been difficulty in separating the microbial solids from the treated effluent and in returning them to the aeration tank. Another problem has been the digestion of the excess activated sludge. In constrast, it has not been difficult to separate the microbial solids from the treated effluent from the biological fixed-film systems(RBC process, Trickling Filter, FAST process). These systems have also featured less sludge production. Recently, it was proposed to experiment with the RESMAS process in order to eliminate the settling tank and sludge concentration facilities and to reduce the quantity of excess sludge for final disposal. The effluent quality could be predicted by .the concept of the maximum accumulation capacity. However, the hydraulic characteristics of the screen media in the RESMAS reactor were not dynamic. The object of the present study is to evalute the sludge accumulation rate and effluent quality prediction in the REMSMAS process designed in the dynamic hydraulic structure. This process can eliminate the final sedimentation tank and sludge concentration tank needed in the RBC, CMAS, Trickling Filter and FAST processes. Also, the effluent quality is desirable to compare with other processes. It appeared that the value of the sludge holding capacity was higher than those of the RESMAS and FAST processes, and the periods of the critical operating time were proportional to the substrate hydraulic loadings.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.728-737
• /
• 2003

To evaluate microbial data and salivary measurements from clinically compatible, culture-based screening procedures employed with children younger than 36 months old. Plaque and stimulated saliva specimens were collected from 87 children. The pH of each saliva sample was measured before and after 0.94% lactic acid was added. Specimens were diluted and plated on selective media and non-selective media. Data collected were counts of mutans streptococci (MS) and lactobacilli (LB). In addition, total viable counts (TVC) of specimens, salivary pH and buffering capacity were also assessed. Each variable was compared to caries status of subjects. According to this study, the results were as followed: 1. Highly significant correlation with caries rates were found for counts of MS and LB. 2. The specific counts/ml saliva or plaque above which caries is predicted, or below which caries is not predicted were as follows: 1) Saliva MS; $10^5$ 2) Plaque MS; $2{\times}10^5$ 3) Saliva LB; $10^3$ 4) Plaque LB; $10^3$. 3. Salivary pH and buffering capacity versus caries status were not significant. 4. Microbial screening methods based on mutans streptococci had higher predictive values and odds ratios than methods for lactobacilli. 5. MS counts were clearly the best indicators of caries status in young children. This measurement can easily be obtained in a dental clinical setting both by conventional culture techniques, or commercial kits for MS recovery.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.403-408
• /
• 2001

Distillation condensate generated from downstream processing of microbial alcohol fermentation imposes a serious burden to biological wastewater treatment or anaerobic digestion due to its high contents of SS (suspended solids) and TN (total nitrogen), A pilot scale microfiltration of the stillage condensate with a stainless steel SCEPTER membrane of 0.1 ${\mu}$m pore size was carried out to remove SS which was mostly composed of microbial cell residue. A stable permeate flux was achieved when the decanter effluent containing 0.7% of SS was filtered under the conditions of X10 VCR (volume concentration ratio), 2.5 bar of TMP (transmembrane pressure), and 60$^{\circ}C$. When stillage condensate with 2.6% SS was treated directly with microfiltration, VCR below X3 was recommended for a long duration of filtration. The permeate and retentate obtained from microfiltration were recycled to make-up medium of fermentation. Adding permeate or retentate up to 30% of fermentation volume showed no distinguished undesirable influence during the course of alcohol fermentation. Although only slight improvements in the final amount of CO$_2$ evolution and alcohol content were observed, fermentation rate increased so that the required time to reach 450 L/ton of CO$_2$ evolution was shortened to 72% of that with normal media.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.190-196
• /
• 2012

In this study, a total of more than 1,000 bacteria, including 739 species of aerobic bacteria, 80 species of urease producing bacteria and 303 species of photosynthetic bacteria, were isolated from red-pepper field soils located in the Gyeongsan Province of the Republic of Korea. Amongst these, 158 species of aerobic bacteria, 70 species of urease producing bacteria and 228 species of photosynthetic bacteria were found to be auxin producing soil bacteria through quantification analysis with the Salkowski test. The latter groupings were then tested for antifungal activities to ${\beta}$-Glucanase and siderophore using CMC congo red agar and CAS blue agar media. In addition, the selected strains were examined for antifungal activity against various phytopathogenic fungi on PDN agar media. Six strains; BCB14, BCB17, C10, HA46, HA143, and HJ5, were noted for their ability to both produce auxin and act as antifungal substances. 16S rDNA sequence comparison analyses of these six strains identified them as Bacillus subtilis BCB14, B. methylotrophicus BCB17, B. methylotrophicus C10, B. sonorensis HA46, B. subtilis HA143, and B. safensis HJ5.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 2008

To evaluate the functions of vegetation mat of artificial floating island (AFI) installed in Lake Paldang, nutrients, such as total phosphorus (TP), dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), total nitrogen (TN) and nitrate $(NO_3)$ and microbial factors such as total bacterial numbers, active bacterial numbers and exoenzymatic activities of $\beta$-glucosidase and phosphatase in pore water of medium and bulk lake water were analyzed. The concentration of TN and $NO_3$ in pore water ranged from 4.4 to 7.5mg $L^{-1}$ from 1.2 to 3.8mg $L^{-1}$ respectively, which were ca. 2 times higher than those of lake water. The ranges of TP and DIP of were $1.4\sim4.1mg\;L^{-1}$ and $0.003\sim0.137mg\;L^{-1}$ in pore water of media which were $4\sim25$ and 5 times higher than those of lake water, respectively. The numbers of total bacteria and active bacteria in pore waterwere about 10 times higher than those of laker water. Also, both phosphatase and $\beta$-glucosidase activities of pore water were on an average 10 times higher than those of lake water. These results suggest that the bacteria were playing important role for nutrients concentrating and cycling in media of artificial floating island. And the medium of artificial floating island contained newly created microbial ecosystem, which is responsible for sustaining the growth of macrophytes and the creation of new aquatic ecosystem.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.431-439
• /
• 2014

The purposes of this research were to investigate the enrichment of metal-reducing bacteria from KURT groundwater and the identification of the microbial diversity by 16S rRNA as well as to examine microbial Fe(III)/Mn(IV) reduction and to analyze morphological features of interactions between microbes and precipitates and their mineralogical composition. To cultivate metal-reducing bacteria from groundwater sampled at the KURT in S. Korea, different electron donors such as glucose, acetate, lactate, formate, pyruvate and Fe(III)-citrate as an electron accepter were added into growth media. The enriched culture was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis for the diversity of microbial species. The effect of electron donors (i.e., glucose, acetate, lactate, formate, pyruvate) and electron acceptors (i.e., akaganeite, manganese oxide) on microbial iron/manganese reduction and biomineralization were examined using the 1st enriched culture, respectively. SEM, EDX, and XRD analyses were used to determine morphological features, chemical composition of microbes and mineralogical characteristics of the iron and manganese minerals. Based on 16S rRNA gene analysis, the four species, Fusibacter, Desulfuromonas, Actinobacteria, Pseudomonas sp., from KURT groundwater were identified as anaerobic metal reducers and these microbes precipitated metals outside of cells in common. XRD and EDX analyses showed that Fe(III)-containing mineral, akaganeite (${\beta}$-FeOOH), reduced into Fe(II)/Fe(III)-containing magnetite ($Fe_3O_4$) and Mn(IV)-containing manganese oxide (${\lambda}-MnO_2$) into Mn(II)-containing rhodochrosite ($MnCO_3$) by the microbes. These results implicate that microbial metabolism and respiratory activities under anaerobic condition result in reduction and biomineralization of iron and manganese minerals. Therefore, the microbes cultivated from groundwater in KURT might play a major role to reduce various metals from highly toxic, mobile to less toxic, immobile.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.577-586
• /
• 2018

We recently reported the potential probiotic properties of Lactobacillus brevis SBB07 isolated from blueberries. The present study investigates the effect of culture conditions such as temperature, initial pH, culture time, and medium constituent for industrial application. The ingredients of the medium to improve cell growth were selected by Plackett-Burman design (PBD) and central composite design (CCD) within a desirable range. The PBD was applied with 19 factors: seven carbon sources, six nitrogen sources, and six microelements. Protease peptone, corn steep powder (CSP), and yeast extract were found to be significant factors for the growth of SBB07. The CCD was then applied with three variables found from the PBD at five levels, and the optimum values were decided for the three variables: protease peptone, CSP, and yeast extract. In the case of the growth of SBB07, the proposed optimal media contained 2.0% protease peptone, 2.5% CSP, and 2.0% yeast extract, and the maximum dried-cell weight was predicted to be 2.93963 g/l. By the model verification, it was confirmed that the predicted and actual results are similar. Finally, the study investigated the effects of incubation temperature and initial pH at the optimized medium. It was confirmed that the dried-cell weight increased from $2.2933{\pm}0.0601g/l$ to $3.85{\pm}0.0265g/l$ when compared to the basal medium at $37^{\circ}C$ and initial pH 8.0. Establishing the optimal culture condition for SBB07 provides good potential for applications in probiotics and can serve as the foundation for the industrialization of materials.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.501-506
• /
• 2004

Microflora and contamination process of Saengshik products were investigated to ensure microbial safety of Saengshik. Food-borne pathogenic bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and Clostridium perfringens detected mainly from grains were not removed by washing with tap water and freeze-drying. Contaminations of food-borne pathogenic bacteria occurred through raw material powder processed at other factories and during actual product manufacturing process, because detection rates of final products were higher than those of raw materials. Concentration of food-borne pathogenic bacteria increased with advancing of process after first pulverization. Dusts of powder and powder attached to machine were good media for air-borne microorganisms and caused to increase of food-borne pathogenic bacteria during process. Improvement of manufacturing process and sanitary control of machines arc necessary to ensure microbial safety of Saengshik.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.56 no.4
• /
• pp.241-244
• /
• 2013

Nitrate is one of the major nutrients in plants, and nitrate fertilizer often overused for the high yields of crops. Nitrate deposit in soil became one of the major reasons causing salt stress. Specially, salt stress is a serious problem in the soils of plastic film or glass houses. In this study, six microorganisms have been isolated from the wet soils near the disposals of livestock farms and their nitrate uptake activities were investigated. These bacteria were able to remove nitrate as high as 1,000-3,000 ppm (10-50 mM). The strain PCE3 showed the highest nitrate uptake activity and it removed more than 3,700 ppm. In order to identify these bacteria, genes of 16S rRNA were sequenced and analyzed. Phylogenetic trees were constructed with the neighbor-joining methods. Among these bacteria, strain PCE3 was identified as Bacillus species. When the growth and nitrate uptake activities were measured, both were maximal at $37^{\circ}C$ and optimal pH was pH 7-9. Bacillus sp. PCE3 removed nitrate up to 40-60 mM (2,500-3,700 ppm) depending on the nitrate concentration in media. Therefore, Bacillus sp. PCE3 can be a good candidate for the microbial remediation of nitrate-deposited soils in glass and plastic film houses.