• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.545-550
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• 2004

The study of available genotypes (biodiversity analysis) in bacterial communities is of growing importance in several fields such as ecology, environmental technology, clinical diagnostics, etc. These culture-independent genotyping techniques, especially amplifying 16S rRNA genes, attempt to overcome some shortcomings of conventional cultivation method. Biodiversity analysis based on molecular technique were laborious for base-calling chromatogram, trimming primer sites, correcting strand directions, electing representative operation taxonomic units (OTU), etc. Also, biologists wanted intuitively to confirm results of the above processes. For making up these demands, we developed the web application based on Folder-Process-Filter (FPF) modeling with correspondence to classical Model-View-Controller model. The model of web application leads to keep virtues of simplicity and directness for development and management of the stepwise web interfaces. The web application was developed in Perl and CGI on Linux workstation. It can be freely accessed from http://home.pusan.ac.kr/～genome/tools/rat.htm.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.35-43
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• 2011

In this study, anaerobic biological decomposition were attempted after solubilization treatment of sewage sludge with the complex pre-treatment (acid/base treatment with ultrasonic radiation). Solubilization ratios were compared for ultrasonic treatment at acid or base condition. Solubilization effect of the complex pre-treatment was more effective at higher pH. Biological decomposition of complex pre-treated sludge was faster than non treated (raw) sludge, showing 10 times higher total gas production. Biological digestion of the sludge shows more biogas production. B/A ratio. which indicates hydrogen production potential, was 50% higher with complex pre-treated sludge than raw sludge but lactic acid or propionic acid were also detected during anaerobic decomposition process.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.289-301
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• 2012

A biological assessment of water quality was made at 9 sites of the Joyang-river and inflow streams located in Jeongseon-gun Gangwon-do, from June 2008 to September 2010. The investigation consisted of physico-chemical factors, biomass, and standing crops of epilithic diatoms. In addition, the community structure of epilithic diatoms was analyzed, and the water quality was assessed using DAIpo and TDI. The pH varied from 7.4~10.2 which is attributed to the Joyang-river area consisting of limestone. A total of 117 taxonomic groups of epilithic diatoms, including: 2 orders, 6 families, 23 genera, 95 species, 15 varieties, 2 forms, and 5 unidentified species, were found in the Joyang-river. 11 taxa, including Achnanthes laterostrata and Cymbella delicatula which live in neutral to alkali pH, were found. An indicator species of alkali waters, Cymbella delicatula, was routinely observed to have a relative frequency of over 10% in I3 and I4. In the result of the biological assessment using DAIpo, the Joyang-river was rated class A, with an average of 77.03 and inflow streams were rated class B with an average of 65.84. As for the results of TDI analysis, the Joyangriver was rated class A~B, and inflow streams were rated class A~D. Accordingly, the water quality of the Joyang-river was determined to be superior to that of inflow streams. Although the main stream showed low water quality at sites J2 and J3, correlating with a reduction in the quality of inflow stream, I1 in September 2009.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2000

There are increasing evidences of climate change in the Antarctic and Arctic Oceans, especially elevated temperature due to the continuous burning of the fossil fuels and ultraviolet B(UV-B) flux within the ozone hole. Light-dependent, temperature-sensitive, and fast-growing organisms respond to these physical and biogeochemical changes. Polar marine phytoplankton, which are pioneer endemic species and important carbon contributors in the polar waters, are therefore highly suitable biological indicators of such changes. By virtue of light requirement, the primary producers are exposed to extreme seasonal fluctuations in temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, and UV radiation. Local environmental warming and increased UV-B radiation during ozone depletion may have profound effects on the primary producers that are primary carbon producers in the polar water. Small changes in climate temperature and solar radiation may have profound effects on the activity threshold of the polar phytoplanktion. To demonstrate biological response to the environmental changes, standardized representative natural and biological parameters are needed so that replicate samples (including controls) can be taken over extended periods of time. In this paper, we review general characteristics of polar phytoplankton, their environment, environmental changes in the polar waters, the effects on the environmental changes to the polar phytoplankton, and the importance of the polar phytoplankton to understand the global environmental changes. [Biological indicators, Global environmental change, Polar phytoplankton, UV].

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.722-733
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• 2019

This study was carried out to provide basic information for the ecological preservation management of temple forest (Donghaksa, Gapsa, Sinwonsa) by investigating the ecological characteristics of vegetation structure of the Cultural Heritage Site in Mt. Gyeryongsan National Park based on the Braun-Blanquet vegetation survey method from September 2018 to May 2019. As a result of hierarchical cluster analysis, the forest vegetation was classified into 3 vegetation units (Zelkova serrata - Akebia quinata - Kerria japonica community, VU1; Quercus serrata - Callicarpa japonica - Carpinus cordata community, VU2; and Pinus densiflora - Prunus sargentii - Fraxinus sieboldiana community, VU3). The indicator species of each vegetation unit were 12 taxa, 8 taxa, and 6 taxa, respectively. The result of the importance value analysis showed that Z. serrata had the highest importance value in all vegetation units, and the result of the species diversity analysis showed that the species diversity of VU3 was 0.939, which was relatively higher than other vegetation units. The result of the CCA of correlation between vegetation units and abiotic environmental factors showed that VU2 had a negative correlation with altitude, and biotic environmental factors had no significant correlation with vegetation units.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.305-313
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• 2017

We investigate that the impact of freshwater organism exposed to the salinity environment by the frequent rainfall following climate change. To evaluate the stress response following salinity exposure, we assessed the survival rate, molting success rate, the developmental period and mouthpart deformities in Chironomus riparius. In addition, we measured the molecular responses of biomarker gene, gene expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in C. riparius exposed to salinity after 96 hour. The C. riparius survival rates were showed on time dependent manner and not observed survival organisms above 15 psu at day 4. The pupation and emergence of C. riparius were not seen above 15 psu, and the molting success rate was less than 20% at 10 psu. The developmental retardation of C. riparius was well observed in the pupation and emergence period and was delayed by 4 days at 10 psu compared to the control and 5 psu. The mouthpart deformities after salinity exposure at 96 or 72 hour were observed at 10 psu and 15 psu. The expression of C. riparius HSP70 level was significantly increased exposure to 5 psu and 10 psu. Thus, salinity has been caused to be various ecotoxicological and molecular stress responses on freshwater organisms similar to harmful substances such as EDCs and so on.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.48-59
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• 2019

This study analyzed the water quality characteristics and developed empirical models prior to and after the construction of Baekje Weir, in the Geum River watershed between 2004-2017. The comparative evaluation of the surface water chemistry before and after the four major river projects on the weirs indicated that total phosphorus (TP), based on annual data, rapidly decrease after the construction of the weir while the total nitrogen(TN) decreased. Conversely, chlorophyll-a (CHL) concentration, which is a good indicator of primary productivity, increased after the construction of the weir together with an increase in specific conductivity. Simply put, the construction of the weir led to the decrease in concentrations of N and P due to the increased water residence time (WRT), whereas the CHL :TP ratio greatly increased in magnitude. The regression analysis of the empirical model indicated that CHL had no significant relation (r=0.068, p=0.6102, n=58) with TP before the weir construction, but had a relation with TP after the weir construction (r=0.286, p<0.05, n=56). Therefore, such conditions resulted in an increase in primary productivity on a given unit of phosphorus, resulting in frequent algal blooms. In contrast, seasonal suspended solids (SS) and TP increased during the monsoon period, compared to the pre-monsoon, thereby showing positive correlations (r>0.40, p<0.01, n=163) with precipitation. If the government consistently discharges water from the weir, the phosphorus concentration will be increased due to its reversion to a lotic waterbody from a lentic waterbody hereby reducing algal blooms in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2006

The industrial systems contain many sites and components susceptible to biofilms formation. Biofilms play an important role in microbial growth and industrial fouling. Thus, the control of the biofilms in industrial systems has been emphasized, however, the efficient controlling method was not provided yet. Since silver compounds have no residual and corrosion problem, the interest for silver compounds as a biofilm control disinfectant has been increased. In this study, we attempted to examine the disinfection ability of silver compounds. The disinfection efficiency of two silver compounds(silver ion and silver oxide) were evaluated for biofilms in comparison with suspended cells using well known indicator microorganisms(E. coli, P. aeruginosa) and compared with that of chlorine. Silver compounds were found to be effective in inactivating E. coli and P. aeruginosa biofilms. The reason for superiority of silver compounds as biofilm disinfectant was suggested by that silver can penetrate into the inner biofilm matrix faster than chlorine without consumption. This study reports that the disinfectant which is highly effective in inactivating the suspended cells in water becomes the less effective for controlling biofilm because of its high reactivity. This results imply that the effective strategy for biofilm control can be achieved by considering thoroughly the chemical nature of disinfects and biofilm structure and the reactivity between them.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.150-164
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• 2022

The objective of this study is to analyze the biodiversity changes and characteristics of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in the Nakdong River with eight weirs, which was constructed as one of the Four Major River Restoration Projects from May to October 2020. The study also includes the analysis of changes in the major groups of benthic macroinvertebrates for about ten years, from 2010 to 2020. The surveys collected 97 species of benthic macroinvertebrates belonging to 83 genera, 52 families, 18 orders, five classes, three phyla, and 128.1 individuals/m². Chironomidae sp. and Tubificidae spp., which are pollutant indicators, dominated throughout the sections. The community analysis result shows the average dominant index and the diversity index of 0.62±0.20 and 1.87±0.63, respectively, and indicated the most stability of the freshwater ecosystem in the upper stream of the Nakdong River. The survey showed dominance by Chironomidae sp. at the center of the Nakdong River weir and the most unstable community in Chilgok and Gangjeong Goryeong weirs. The results of the community stability analysis showed a high distribution of the characteristic group I with high resilience and resistance and small distribution of characteristic group III with low resistance and resilience, indicating a very unstable condition of communities in the Nakdong River weir section. Predators were relatively abundant among the functional feeding groups (FFGs), whereas shredders, gathering-collectors, and filtering-collectors were relatively lower. Among the habitat orientation groups (HOGs), burrowers and climbers were dominant, indicating a wide distribution of groups in ecosystems with low dissolved oxygen. An endangered species level II of Macromia daimoji was found in Sangju and Nakdan weirs. The analysis results for 10 years from 2010 showed that the number of species and populations increased immediately after the dam construction but plummeted in 2016 and are now stabilizing. Chironomidae spp. has been dominant in all sections over the past 10 years, and they are currently maintained at a rate of about 50%. The EPT groups have decreased significantly since 2011, and the Plecoptera and Trichoptera of the group have not yet been restored. The population of Tubificidae spp. showed an increase after construction was completed in 2012 and drastically increased in 2015 and 2020. The species of Cristaria plicata, designated as endangered species level I, has not been observed since 2011 in Hapcheon Changnyeong weir. Moreover, Macromia daimoji was rarely observed in seven weirs until 2015, and it has been confirmed that the current distribution habitat has decreased rapidly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.28 no.2 s.50
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• pp.511-525
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• 1995

To elucidate some DNA adducts as a biological marker for workers of chromate pigment, the effects of chromium exposure on the formation of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine(8-OH-dG) and sister chromatid exchanges(SCEs) frequency in 38 workers of a pigment plant in Bucheon which utilized lead chromates, were examined. The chromium contents of venous blood and urine were measured as working environmental exposure level. The concentrations of 8-OH-dG in DNA isolated from lymphocytes were determined with high performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detector and denoted as a molar ratio of 8-OH-dG to deoxyguanosine(dG). The SCEs frequency were analyzed in DNA isolated from lymphocytes. A significant correlation was found between creatinine adjusted urine chromium concentration and the molar ratio of 8-OH-dG to dG(r=0.47, p<0.01). After adjusting the current smoking habit, the correlation coefficient was increased(r=0.62, p<0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between the SCE frequency and chromium exposure. This significant results between molar ratio of 8-OH-dG to dG and chromium exposure are in good agreement with in vitro studies that support the importance of DNA adduct formation for the carcinogenic effect of chromium.