• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.715-742
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• 2017

Earth berms are often left in place to support retaining walls or piles in order to eliminate horizontal struts in excavations of soft soil areas. However, if the excavation depth is relatively large, an earth berm-supported retaining system may not be applicable and could be replaced by a multi-bench retaining system. However, studies on multi-bench retaining systems are limited. The goal of this investigation is to study the deformation characteristics, internal forces and interaction mechanisms of the retaining structures in a multi-bench retaining system and the failure modes of this retaining system. Therefore, a series of model tests of a two-bench retaining system was designed and conducted, and corresponding finite difference simulations were developed to back-analyze the model tests and for further analysis. The tests and numerical results show that the distance between the two rows of retaining piles (bench width) and their embedded lengths can significantly influence the relative movement between the piles; this relative movement determines the horizontal stress distribution in the soil between the two rows of piles (i.e., the bench zone) and thus determines the bending moments in the retaining piles. As the bench width increases, the deformations and bending moments in the retaining piles decrease, while the excavation stability increases. If the second retaining piles are longer than a certain length, they will experience a larger bending moment than the first retaining piles and become the primary retaining structure. In addition, for varying bench widths, the slip surface formation differs, and the failure modes of two-bench retained excavations can be divided into three types: integrated failure, interactive failure and disconnected failure.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.866-871
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• 2011

An auxin-producing bacteria (3YN11-02) was isolated from waste mushroom bed from Agaricus bisporus of Chungnam Buyeo-Gun area. The strain 3YN11-02 was identified as a novel species belongs to Rahnella aquatica by a chemotaxanomic and phylogenetic nalysis. The isolate was confirmed to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) which is one of auxin hormone by TLC and HPLC analysis. When the concentration of IAA was assessed by performing HPLC quantity analysis, the maximal $290mg\;L^{-1}$ of IAA detected in ether fraction extracted from the culture filtrate which was cultured in R2A broth containing 0.1% tryptophan for 24 h at $35^{\circ}C$. The molecular weight of the main peak obtained by LC-mass analysis was correspondent well to 175, that of IAA. To investigate the growth promoting effect of crop, when the culture broth of R. aquatica 3YN11-02 was infected onto water culture and seed pot of mung bean, the adventitious root induction and root growth of mung bean were 2.0 times higher than control.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.345-352
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: Salinity is one of the major limiting factors in agriculture that affect the growth and productivity of crops. It is economically difficult to artificially purify the soil affected by salt. Therefore, the use of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) in an effort to reduce stress caused by salt is emerging as a cost-effective and environment-friendly method. In this study, the purpose was to isolate the salt-tolerant bacteria from the rhizosphere soil and identify their ability to promote plant growth under salt stress condition. METHODS AND RESULTS: The isolates KST-1, KST-2, AST-3, and AST-4 that showed plant growth-promoting activity for barley in salt conditions were close to Bacillus cereus (KST-1, KST-2, and AST-4) and Bacillus thuringiensis (AST-3) and showed high salt tolerance up to 7% of additional NaCl to the media. When inoculated to barley, the strains had only minor effect on the length of the barley. However, the concentrations of chlorophyll in the barley leaves were found to be higher from the bacteria-inoculated pots than those from the uninoculated control. In particular, the chlorophyll concentration in Bacillus cereus AST-4 experiment was 5.45 times higher than that of the uninoculated control under the same experimental condition. CONCLUSION(S): The isolated salt-tolerant bacteria were found to influence on chlorophyll concentration of the barley. As represented by the strain AST-4, microbes may suggest a cost-effective and environmentally benign method to alleviate salt stress of crops cultivated in salt-accumulated soils such as reclaimed lands.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.171-173
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• 2019

The genus Cohnella, which belongs to the family Paenibacillaceae, inhabits a wide range of environmental niches. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of Cohnella sp. HS21, which was isolated from the rhizospheric soil of Korean fir (Abies koreana) on the top of Halla Mountain in the Republic of Korea. Strain HS21 features a 7,059,027 bp circular chromosome with 44.8% GC-content. Its genome contains 5,939 protein-coding genes, 78 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 27 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 4 noncoding RNA genes (ncRNA), and 90 pseudogenes. The bacterium contains antibiotic-related gene clusters and genes encoding plant cell wall-degrading enzymes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.189-203
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• 2019

Brine leakage is a common phenomenon during construction facilitated by artificial freezing technique, threatening the stability of frozen wall due to the continual thawing of already frozen domain. This paper takes the frequently encountered soft clay in Wujiang District as the study object, and remolded specimens were prepared by mixing calcium chloride solutions at five levels of concentration. Both the deformation and pore water pressure of frozen specimens during thawing were investigated by two-stage loading tests. Three sections were noted from the changes in the strain rate of specimens during thawing at the first-stage load, i.e., instantaneous, attenuated, and quasi-stable sections. During the second-stage loading, the deformation of post-thawed soils is closely correlated with the dissipation of pore water pressure. Two characteristic indexes were obtained including thaw-settlement coefficient and critical water content. The critical water content increases positively with salt content. The higher water content of soil leads to a larger thaw-settlement coefficient, especially at higher salt contents, based on which an empirical equation was proposed and verified. The normalized pore water pressure during thawing was found to dissipate slower at higher salt contents, with a longer duration to stabilize. Three physical indexes were experimentally determined such as freezing point, heat conductivity and water permeability. The freezing point decreases at higher salt contents, especially as more water is involved, like the changes in heat conductivity. The water permeability maintains within the same order at the considered range of salt contents, like the development of the coefficient of consolidation. The variation of the pore volume distribution also accounts for this.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.2C
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• pp.119-131
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• 2010

In this study, beneficial use of ocean contaminated sediments were investigated by laboratory and environmental tests, and their prototypes were released. Dredged material from Ulsan port is used for making cement treated samples and lightweight foamed samples, and various engineering tests were performed to identify the compressibility and stress-strain behaviors. Environmental tests were also performed for the beneficial uses. The values of Cu are a little higher than the suggested standard possible for reusing dredged material and equal to the suggested standard alarming for reusing dredged material, which shows environmental harmfulness for the reuse of construction material. In addition, particle size distribution, compaction test, Atterberg limit tests, specific gravity test, and unit weight test were performed to investigate the use of landfill cover materials. The shear strengths of cement treated soils were found to be enough for reclamation works.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.3C
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• pp.105-113
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• 2009

Pressuremeter test estimates deformational properties of soil from the relationship between applied pressure and the displacement of cavity wall, and the results reflect the in-situ stress condition and the structure of soil particles. This study suggests the overall process of test and analysis for the evaluation of nonlinear degradation characteristics of shear moduli, based on the reloading curve of pressuremeter test. The method estimates the maximum shear modulus, taking into account the difference between the stress states around the probe in reloading and that of the in-situ state, and then combines the degradation characteristics of shear moduli taken from reloading curve. This procedure derives the shear moduli in overall strain range. Pressuremeter tests were carried out in various ground conditions using large calibration chamber, together with various reference tests. Shear moduli taken from pressuremeter tests were compared with bender element test and resonant column test results.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.163-174
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• 2009

The large underground structure under earthquake is affected more by soil dynamic characteristic and volume of structure than by structural dynamic characteristic itself. Therefore, it is the purpose of research that the aseismic analysis for caverns including various aseismic analysis factors (rock quality-Q value, soil dynamic characteristic, shape ratio $&$ volume, underground structural dynamic characteristic, and aseismic level) are applied by using the numerical analysis program (SAUS; seismic analysis of underground structures). The result of research is stated that maximum strain, maximum moment, and maximum shear are not sensitive with respect to shape ratio. However those values are sensitive with respect to Q value, volume of underground structure and aseismic level. Based on the results of this research, the assessment for the influence factors of aseismic analysis for large underground structure could be possible.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.292-301
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• 2000

To make a better use of the beneficial bacterial inoculants in the agricultural practice, dry forms of bacterial fertilizer or pesticides are prepared with carrier materials. During the drying process of bacterial inoculant, most of the cells face a severe osmotic pressure and dehydration, and die off. Our study describes the effect of osmoprotectants such as trigonelline and trehalose on the survival of bacterial cells in high salt concentration and drying conditions. A fluorescent Pseudomonas, strain SSL3, used in this study, could grow in high salt concentration of upto 5% but the cells could not overcome the growth retardation at over 7% of salt concentration. The addition of trigonelline, even on small amount, in liquid medium containing 4% NaCl was detrimental to the cell. However, the addition of trehalose of upto 10 mM to the liquid medium containing 4% NaCl, enhanced cell growth. The cell growth was retarded when 150mM trehalose was added to the medium. Upon dry formulation of cells, trehalose was added. And the dry cells were inoculated into the soil to determine the effect of osmoprotectants on the survival of the cells. The survival of the cells, both in wet or dry soil, was improved by the addition of trehalose during the dry cell formulation. The positive effect of trehalose on the cell survival at $-20^{\circ}C$ and $-70^{\circ}C$ was oven more pronounced. The FTIR (Fourier transformation infra-red) spectroscopic analysis showed that the change of the 2nd amide group was reduced by adding trehalose to the medium containing 4% NaCl. These results suggest that trehalose can protect the cell membrane from dryness or high concentration of salt, thereby diminishing the sudden change of the protein structure of the cell membrane and, as a consequence, improving the cell survival.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.72-77
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• 1989

A study was conducted to obtain acid tolerant and superior Rhizobium meliloti strain for alfalfa on hilly acid soils. With host plant, eight isolates of R, meliloti selected in the vicinity of Milyang were evaluated for their ability to establish symbiotic effectiveness in acidified tube culture medium and vermiculite pot with different urea levels. Among isolates "YA03" was characterized for the ability to manifest to acid tolerance in three different soils of which pH were 5.0, 6.0, and 7.5. The results obtained were summarized as follows: 1. Of eight isolates "YA03" and "YA09" performed nodule in the tube medium of pH5.0, and in the symbiotic effectiveness YA03 was superior to others. 2. Alfalfa growth and $N_2-fixing$ activity by the inoculation of "YA03" isolate were better than others at the level of urea 1.25mM as well as nonurea. 3. Application of urea with inoculation of "YA03" islate to alfalfa was one of the effective factors for symbiotic effectiveness. 4. In infertile soil of pH5.0 inoculation of R. meliloti "YA03" to alfalfa caused the increase of shoot dry matter of 320% as compared to the control, and the total amount of yield was 131% as much yield in moderate fertile soil of pH7.5. Finally R. meliloti "YA03" isolate was selected as an acid tolerant strain.