• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.583-592
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• 2020

This study assessed source depletion in the vadose zones of contaminated sites. The possible range of infiltration rate in Korea was statistically analyzed. The results showed a trend of decreasing leachate concentration of 13 pollutants used for risk assessment. Among them, benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylene showed a lower leachate concentration in groundwater over time due to their low distribution coefficient and also possible biodegradation effects. The average values of the relative concentration could be taken as a default index due to a very small range of uncertainties. In the case of heavy metals, it was shown that the leachate concentration in a pollutant does not decrease over time. Considering the annually different infiltration, a site-specific source-depletion scenario was applied to Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province. The result was expressed as a time series of the relative concentration of the leachate concentration, and this was compared to the trend by averaged Korean infiltration. Finally, an open-source code that used Python was used to help calculate the leachate concentration by this site-specific infiltration scenario.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.69-83
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• 2020

For the development of the chitosan industry in Korea, the catch of red snow crabs caught on the east coast is rapidly decreasing. Therefore, it is urgent to develop raw materials that can replace the red snow crab as the top priority to solve the supply and demand problems, as well as wastewater treatment costs account for a large proportion of the cost of chitosan. In order to solve the problems, continuous research on biological extraction methods such as enzymatic extraction and microbial fermentation will increase production efficiency and lower unit cost as well as chemical extraction methods. Further efficient manufacturing method can be established. Establishing of novel techniques is indispensable for production of high-purity chitosan and the ability to regulate and separate the molecular weight, as well as joint research with industry, academia and research institute for the research and development of high-functional chitosan derivatives.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.430-440
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• 2022

Selenium is an important trace mineral that plays an essential role in maintaining the body's immunity with oxidative stress defense and antioxidant activity, immunity, thyroid hormone control, defense against drug or heavy metal harm, and reducing the risk of chronic diseases. A selenium deficiency increases the risk of various chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological disease, osteoarthritis, muscle necrosis and weakness, thyroid disease, and inflammatory diseases. This paper explains the criteria for establishing and revising selenium in the 2020 Dietary Reference Intake for Koreans (KDRIs) and reviews the current status of the selenium database and suggestions for setting the 2025 KDRIs in the future. In the 2020 KDRIs, the selenium intake with the maximum plasma selenoprotein P level was used as the criteria. The weight and coefficient of the variation were applied to the Chinese' reported values. Compared to 2015 KDRIs, there were some revisions in the selenium dietary reference intakes by gender and age according to the change in reference weight. To improve and revise selenium dietary reference intakes in the future, a selenium intervention study is needed to determine the maximum level of plasma selenoprotein P in Koreans. In addition, a revision of the selenium database of the nutritional assessment program (CAN-Pro 5.0) is needed. An analysis of the selenium content of foods should be expanded to assess the selenium intake accurately. In addition, research on the relationship between selenium intake and the biological indicators in the body is required for healthy people and subjects of special environments, such as patients and athletes with various oxidative stress.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2022

We aimed to produce a potent β-glucuronidase inhibitor from wild yeast that could inactivate toxic substances in the colon. Culture supernatants and cell-free extracts of non-pathogenic wild yeasts were prepared and their β-glucuronidase inhibitory activities were measured. Cell-free extract from Candida oleophila WP5-19-1 showed the highest β-glucuronidase inhibitory activity (49.0%). The β-glucuronidase inhibitor was maximally produced (IC₅₀ value; 8.4 mg) when C. oleophila WP5-19-1 was cultured in potato dextrose medium containing 5% dextrose (initial pH; 6.0) at 30℃ for 24 hours. β-glucuronidase inhibitor of C. oleophila WP5-19-1 was partially purified by trypsin hydrolysis, ultrafiltration (3 kDa), and Sephadex G-50 filtration. The partially purified β-glucuronidase inhibitor was stable from 30℃ to 60℃ and at pH 6.0 9.0, and showed residual inhibitory activity of about 80%.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.331-341
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• 2023

When creating a soil contamination map using geostatistical techniques, there are various sources that can affect prediction errors. In this study, a grid-based soil contamination map was created from the sampling data of heavy metal concentrations in soil in abandoned mine areas using Ordinary Kriging. Five factors that were judged to affect the prediction error of the soil contamination map were selected, and the variation of the root mean squared error (RMSE) between the predicted value and the actual value was analyzed based on the Leave-one-out technique. Then, using a machine learning algorithm, derived the top three factors affecting the RMSE. As a result, it was analyzed that Variogram Model, Minimum Neighbors, and Anisotropy factors have the largest impact on RMSE in the Standard interpolation. For the variogram models, the Spherical model showed the lowest RMSE, while the Minimum Neighbors had the lowest value at 3 and then increased as the value increased. In the case of Anisotropy, it was found to be more appropriate not to consider anisotropy. In this study, through the combined use of geostatistics and machine learning, it was possible to create a highly reliable soil contamination map at the local scale, and to identify which factors have a significant impact when interpolating a small amount of soil heavy metal data.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.44-50
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• 2009

In this study, the use of purge & trap GC-MS technique for determination of methylmercury in sediment samples was described. The method detection limit of the method was determined as 0.06 ng/g and the recovery of the method was $102{\pm}11.4%$, with precisions better than 11.2%. The method was validated by analysis of CRMs such as ERM CC580 (estuarine sediment) and IAEA 405 (sediment). Additionally, the performance of the method was tested on river sediment samples and the analytical results were compared with those of the GC-CVAFS, which has been widely used for methylmercury analysis.

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

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.203-210
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• 2004

This study was conducted to assessment organic compound and bioassay (density of inhabited animal, fluctuation of predominant fungi, and survival ratio of earthworm) for finding damage on red pepper by heavily amount application of sludges in soil, which was treated with 3 pharmaceutical byproducts and a cosmetic industry wastewater sludge as raw materials of compost, and for establishing estimation method. HEM contents in the soil treated with pharmaceutical byproducts sludge2 (PS2) and cosmetic sludge (CS) were 0.51, 1.10 mg/kg respectively. PAHs content of PS2 treatment in the soil was 3406.8 ug/kg on July 8. In abundance of soil faunas, the pharmaceutical byproducts sludge2 treatment was the most highest. The next was decreased in the order of pig manure (PM) and the cosmetic sludge treatment. However the other pharmaceutical sludge treatments were remarkably reduced populations of soil inhabited animals. In upland soil treated with organic sludges, the numbers of bacteria and fungi of the pharmaceutical sludge treatment were 736, 909 cfu/g and those of the cosmetic sludge treatment were 440, 236 cfu/g, respectively. The pharmaceutical sludge treatments and the cosmetic sludge treatment in identification of predominant bacteria were not any tendency to compare with non fertilizer and pig manure treatments, but they had diverse bacteria than NPK treatment. In microcosm tests, the survival of the tiger earthworm in five soil samples was hardly affected against the soil of PSI (20%) after three months treated in the upland But after six months, survival of PS1 was 80%. At present, raw material of compost was authorized by contents of organic matter, heavy metal (8 elements), and product processing according to 'The specified gist on possible materials of using after analysis and investigation among raw materials of compost', however, for preparing to change regulation of raw material of compost and for considering to possibility of application, this study was conducted to investigate toxic organic compound and bioassay methods using inhabited animal, fungi, and earthworm without current regulation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.565-583
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• 2020

In recent years, various social issues related to the natural radioactive elements detected in household goods and building materials are addressed, and should be solved promptly. In Korea, for more than 20 years, the Ministry of Environment has investigated the natural radioactive materials such as heavy metals, uranium, and radon in soil or groundwater. The origins of natural radioactive materials in them may have a close correlation with the geological factors including classification of rocks, petrogenetic origins, and deformation characteristics, but the exact geological correlations are not clarified because of the absence of the government policy preserved in the basement rocks, soils as well as groundwater in fault-related reservoirs. This study aims to perform a research on the correlation between the petrogeneses of the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks and natural radioactive concentrations in rocks (radon, uranium, thorium, potassium etc.) in Korea. Among the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks, alkaline plutonic rocks (syenite, monzonite and monzodiorite and alkali granite) show high U and Th concentrations by high solubilities of U, Th, Zr, REE, and Nb until the most extreme stages of magmatic fractionation (viz. crystal fractionation) due to high magma temperature and high alkalinity tendency. The highly fractionated high-K calalkaline and peraluminous granitic rocks (leucogranite, two-mica granite and leucocratic pegmatite are also U and Th concentrations compared with other less or medium fractionated granitic rocks (diorite, granodiorite and granite). The alkaline plutonic rocks are associated with intracontinental rifting and extensional environment after crustal thickening by collisional and subductional processes. In contrast, the dominant calc-alkaline granitic rocks in Korea are related to the arc environment of the subduction zone. In summary, the trends of the U, Th and K concentration from the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks in Korea are closely linked to the petrogenesis of the rocks in tectonic environment. The preliminary data for gamma-spectrometric mesurments of natural radionuclide contents (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K) in the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks show high values in the alkaline and highly fractionated granitic rocks.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.368-375
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• 2006

Single and complex metal oxide catalysts supported onto a commercial DT51D $TiO_2$ have been investigated for gas-phase TCE oxidation in a continuous flow type fixed-bed reaction system to develop a better design approach to catalysts for this reaction. Among the $TiO_2$-supported single metal oxides used, i.e., $CrO_x,\;FeO_x,\;MnO_x,\;LaO_x,\;CoO_x,\;NiO_x,\;CeO_x\;and\;CuO_x$, with the respective metal contents of 5 wt.%, the $CrO_x/TiO_2$ catalyst was shown to be most active for the oxidative TCE decomposition, depending significantly on amounts of $CrO_x\;on\;TiO_2$. The use of high $CrO_x$ loadings greater than 10 wt.% caused lower activity in the catalytic TCE oxidation, which is probably due to production of $Cr_2O_3$ crystallites on the surface of $TiO_2$. $CrO_x/TiO_2$-supported $CrO_x$-based bimetallic oxide catalysts were of particular interest in removal efficiency for this TCE oxidation reaction at reaction temperatures above $200^{\circ}C$, compared to that obtained with $CrO_x$-free complex metal oxides and a 10 wt.% $CrO_x/TiO_2$ catalyst. Catalytic activity of 5 wt.% $CrO_x-5$ wt.% $LaO_x$ in the removal reaction was similar to or slightly higher than that acquired for the $CrO_x$-only catalyst. Similar observation was revealed for 5 wt.% $CrO_x$-based bimetallic oxides consisting of either 5 wt.% $MnO_x,\;CoO_x,\;NiO_x\;or\;FeO_x$. These results represent that such $CrO_x$-based bimetallic systems for the catalytic TCE oxidation on significantly minimize the usage of $CrO_x$ that is well known to be one of very toxic heavy metals, and offer a very useful technique to design new type catalysts for reducing chlorinated volatile organic substances.