• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2006

In this study, conventional biofilters packed with flexible synthetic polyurethane (PU) foam carriers were operated to remove toluene from a contaminated air stream. PU foams containing various adsorbents (e.g., zeolite, sepiolite, dolomite and barite) were synthesized for the biofilter media and their adsorption characteristics of toluene were determined. Adsorption capacity of PU-adsorbent foam was in the order of PU-dolomite ${\approx}$ PU-zeolite > PU-sepiolite > PU-barite. During the biofiltration experiment, influent toluene concentration was in the range of 0-160 ppm and EBRT (i.e., empty bed residence time) was 45 seconds. Pressure drop of the biofilter bed was 4-5 mm $H_2O/m$ column height. The maximum removal capacity was in the order of PU-dolomite > PU-zeolite > PU-sepiolite > PU-barite, while the complete removal capacity was in the order of PU-dolomite > PU-sepiolite > PU-zeolite > PU-barite. The better biofiltration performance in PU-dolomite foam was because PU-dolomite foam had lower density and higher porosity than the others providing favorable conditions for microbial growth. The results of biodegradation kinetic analysis showed that PU-dolomite foam had higher maximum removal rate ($V_m\;=\;11.04\;g$ toluene/kg dry material/day) and saturation constant ($K_s\;=\;26.57\;ppm$) than the other PU foams. This supports that PU-dolomite foam was better than the others for biofilteration of toluene.

• Mycobiology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.221-224
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• 2013

Aphids are one of the most destructive pests in crop production such as pepper, cucumber, and eggplants. The importance of entomopathogenic fungi as alternative pest control agents is increasing. Conidia of entomopathogenic fungi are influenced by environmental conditions, such as temperature and relative humidity, and cause slow and fluctuating mortality. These factors have prevented wider application and use of biocontrol agents. For investigation of means of mitigation of such problems, we conducted bioassays with 47 fungal culture filtrates in order to evaluate the potential of secondary metabolites produced by entomopathogenic fungi for use in aphid control. Among 47 culture filtrates cultured potato dextrose broth, filtrate of Beauveria bassiana Bb08 showed the highest mortality (78%) against green peach aphid three days after treatments. Filtrate of Bb08 cultured in Adamek's medium showed higher toxicity as 100% to third instar nymphs of the aphid compared with seven other filtrates cultured in different broths amended with colloidal chitin or oil. The culture filtrates and fungal cultures from media amended with colloidal chitin or oil had lower control efficacies than filtrates without these additives in three different media. These results indicate that the fungal culture fluid or culture filtrate of B. bassiana Bb08 cultured in Adamek's medium has potential for development as a mycopesticide for aphid control.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.416-424
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• 2014

Objectives: The objective of this study is to analyze the predominant microorganisms in the industry treating MWFs(Metal working fluids). Methods: The bacteria and fungi were collected by agar plate impaction and bulk MWFs in storage tank at 54 sites in 9 shops in South Korea. The dominant bacteria and fungi isolated from agar media were identified by fatty acid analysis and morphological analysis, respectively. Results: Totally 111 dominant bacteria were identified in the process, outdoor, and bulk MWFs. The predominant bacterial genus was Micrococcus and Bacillus in the process and outdoor, Pseudomonas in bulk MWF. Among the identified 119 strains of fungi, Cladosporium and Penicillium genus were dominated. The ratios of bacteria designated biosafety level 2 and 1 were 30% and 21%, respectively. Conclusions: This study has investigated the dominant microorganisms in soluble MWF using industry. And it was useful that the qualitative evaluation method along with quantitative analysis for better understanding of the biological factors in the work environment.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.147-155
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• 2005

This study was designed to investigate the effect of plant as a botanical air purification on the indoor pollution by formaldehyde. Three indoor plants such as Dracaena marhginata, Spathiphyllum and Dracaena reflexa, were placed in the artificially contaminated reactor under laboratory condition. Both plant and soil effects on removal of formaldehyde from contaminated indoor air were observed. Reductions in the formaldehyde levels appeared to have been associated with soil medium factors as well as plant factors. The effect of soil on formaldehyde reduction was high in the early stage of the experiment and the results suggest that sorption could be more important factor than microbial degradation in the initial dissipation of contaminants in the soil. It was suggested that the effect of plant on formaldehyde reduction might be related to the plant species, total leaf surface area of plant, degree of contribution of soil medium, and exposed concentration level. The results of this study showed that air purification using plants is an effective means of reduction on indoor formaldehyde level, though, utilization of soil media with high sorption capacity and/or supplementary purifying aids were also suggested when the source is continuous or exposed concentration level is high.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.115-124
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• 2009

Chitosan and CA/BTCA were employed in order to induce crosslinking in the fiber for the improvement of wrinkle recovery of the cotton fabrics and the endowment of anti-microbial functions to the fabric. The treated fabrics were dyed by using reactive dyestuff and their dyeing behaviors were investigated. As a result, the fabric treated with chitosan only exhibited more dye-uptake amount than the untreated fabric, and the treated and untreated fabrics together showed excellent light-fastness and wash-fastness. In the cases that CA or BTCA was added to the chitosan, the CA-treated showed better dye-uptake and dyeing properties as light-fastness than the BTCA-treated. In conclusion, it is possible to maintain the dye-uptake level at reduced treatment cost when the CA is employed as a substitute cross-linking agent for BTCA.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.20 no.1 s.55
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• pp.23-31
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• 2005

On the purpose of epidemiological survey relate to food poisoning, a total of 114 samples of different salads collected from fast food Restaurants in Gyeonggi-do were for the presence of pathogenic microorganisms. Microbial assessment of salads revealed that TPC($1.1\times10\;\~\;8.4\times10^{5}\;CFU/g$) and coliforms($0\~5.4\times10^{4}\;CFU/g$) exceeded the standards by Solberg et al. ($TPC:10^{5}\;CFU/g,\;coliforms:10^{2}\;CFU/g$). Two pathogenic bacteria were isolated from salad samples, and identified by biochemical methods, including API identification systems. Isolates from PALCAM agar and MYP agar media were in 98.6, $99.8\%$ agreements with Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus at the species level, respectively. All 7 strains of Bacillus cereus isolates produced enterotoxin as revealed with CRET-RPLA.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.675-680
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• 2004

This study was conducted to remove organics and nutrients using 2 stage intermittent aeration reactor. First reactor, using suspended microbial growth in intermittent aeration instead of anaerobic reactor in the typical BNR process, used minimum carbon source to release P, and it was possible to reduce ammonia loading going to second reactor. In the second reactor, using moving media intermittent aeration, it was effective to reduce nitrate in non-aeration time by attached microorganisms having long retention time. In aeration time, nitrification and P uptake were taken place simultaneously. From the experiment, two major results were as follows. First, the removal of organics was more than 90%, and optimum aeration/non-aeration time ratio for organic removal was corresponded with aeration/non-aeration time ratio for nitrogen removal. Second, in the first reactor, optimum aeration/non-aeration time ratio was 15/75 (min.) because it was necessary to maintain 75 min. of non-aeration time to suppress of impediment of return nitrate and to lead release of phosphate. In the second reactor, optimum aeration/non-aeration time ratio was 45/90 (min.).

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.183-186
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• 2005

Arabidopsis AHL gene encodes a 3'(2')-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphate (PAP)-specific phosphatase that plays a role in the sulfate activation pathway. We complemented E. coli cysQ mutant defective in cysteine biosynthesis with the AHL gene. AHL cDNA was cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pKK388-1 and transformed into the bacterial mutant. Since cysQ mutant is a leaky cysteine auxotroph only under aerobic conditions, the bacteria were grown in liquid media with vigorous shaking to provide more aeration. In cysteine-free medium, cysQ mutant and the mutant harboring empty vector did not grow well, whereas cells harboring AHL cDNA exhibited significantly improved growth with doubling time of approximately 3 h. cysQ is known to encode a 3'(2'),5'-diphosphonucleoside 3'(2')-phosphohydrolase (DPNPase). However, our data suggest that cysQ protein has PAP-specific phosphatase activity in addition to DPNPase activity. Microbial complementation procedure described in this paper is useful for structure-activity studies of PAP-specific phosphatases identified from microbes and plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.869-873
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• 2011

Most medium formulations for improving culture of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) based on protein sources have used enriched media like animal feed such as dried egg yolk, lactalbumin, and liver extract, among other ingredients. Most results, however, showed unstable yields and longer production time. Many of the results do not show the detailed parameters of fermentation. Soy flour, cotton seed flour, corn gluten meal, casein powder, soytone, peptone, casein hydrolysates, and lactalbumin hydrolysate as protein sources were tested to determine the source to support optimal symbiotic bacteria and nematode growth. The protein hydrolysates selected did not improve bacterial cell mass compared with the yeast extract control, but soy flour was the best, showing 75.1% recovery and producing more bacterial cell number ($1.4{\times}10^9$/ml) than all other sources. The highest yield ($1.85{\times}10^5$ IJs/ml), yield coefficient ($1.67{\times}10^6$ IJs/g medium), and productivity ($1.32{\times}10^7$ IJs/l/day) were also achieved at enriched medium with soybean protein.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2003

Soybean sprout pathogenic bacteria were isolated from the large, deep containers of a commercial factory. Over a period of one year, 40 pathogenic-like bacteria were isolated among a total of 732 isolates. In addition to bacteria previously reported to be associated with rotting, such as Pseudomonas putida and Erwinia carotovora, several other genera were also identified: Acinetobacter spp., Chryseobacterium spp., Klebsiella sp., Pantoea agglomerans, Bacillus sp. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis using the Microbial ID (MIDI) system, and 16s rRNA sequence analysis, yielded identical results, confirming the identities of these microorganisms. Several types of selective media were not good for identification and determination of population structure in commercial environments, as colony type was not specific to the genus. There was no dominant bacterium, and we were not able to find the main bacterium responsible for soybean spout rot. Even though we did not identify a major target for controlling rot or screening for resistant cultivars, the results of this study indicated that bacterial rot of soybean sprout is endemic. In addition, it emerged that factory epidemics in summer are not caused by the bacteria isolated in this study.