• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2008

Seasonal distribution of various microorganisms was investigated in the effluent water in various sewage treatment plants from January to November in 2007. The target microorganisms were composed of total heterotrophic bacteria, Escherichia coli, coliform and enteric bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Yeast and Mold. The number of total bacteria and the indicator microorganisms, such as E. coli, coliform, and Enterobacteriacea, were increased during the summer season. S. aureus, however, was not influenced by the weather, showing higher number even in November and January in most sewage treatment plants investigated. Meanwhile, disinfection methods employed in various plants had no direct relationship with the growth of microorganisms, and small-scaled plants were found to be more effective than large-scaled ones in the sterilization of microorganisms.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.515-522
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• 2014

In order to quantitatively evaluate the effect of fly ash (FA) as partial replacement of cement on the life-cycle environmental impact of concrete, a comprehensive database including 4023 laboratory mixes and 2120 plant mixes was analyzed. The environmental loads on the life-cycle assessment were quantitatively converted into environmental impact indicators through categorization, characterization, normalization and weighting process. The life-cycle environmental impacts of concrete could be classified into three categories including global warming, photochemical oxidant creation and abiotic resource depletion. Furthermore, these environmental impacts of concrete was decreased with the increase of the replacement level of FA and governed by the unit content of ordinary portland cement (OPC). As a result, simple equations to assess the environmental impact indicators could be formulated as a function of the unit content of binder and the replacement level of FA.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.103-112
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• 1998

Nature-friendly river project has became common practice in Japan. In order to make it available for the conservation and rehabilitation of desirable water environment, water criteria for water environmental assessment must be established. Especially, the criteria estimating the effects on ecosystem in and around river should be constructed. In this paper, classification method for water quality has been developed using biological indices and applied to observed data in Honmyo River, Nagasaki, Japan. Modified PI method (BI') has been suggested and those of three most abundant species resulted effective estimate for an overall water quality with comparatively simple procedure. Extensive database management code was prepared for the comprehensive ecological monitoring of river basin, which includes various biota. That system enables easy access of all the ecological data for a dissemination of a sound and sustainable water environment. The result of this study could improve knowledge base, serve making consensus for citizens, and help river management plans. In Japan, citizen's realization and action are the most critical factor for nature-friendly river restoration project.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.267-276
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• 2008

Acute and chronic toxicities of sediment elutriate and surface water samples collected at Lake Shihwa were evaluated using standard toxicity testing organisms including Vibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna and Moina macrocopa. Acute exposure resulted in toxic effects in all surface water or sediment elutriate samples, except for those collected from the reed swamp and Okgu stream. The rainy season influenced the toxicity of the water samples, presumably either by dilution of point discharge or through introduction of non-point source contaminants through runoff. In the sediment, elutriate and surface water samples, copper was detected above potentially lethal concentration, which may in part explain the observed toxicity. Considering acute toxicities of the surface water streams that direct to the Lake Shihwa, efforts should be warranted to control and reduce discharge of point and non-point sources along Lake Shihwa.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.301-306
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• 2013

This research was conducted to investigate whether sequential anoxic/aerobic biofilm reactors and microfilteration (MF) membrane system can be used as a direct treatment for the removal of perchlorate and nitrate in groundwater. The biofilm process consisted of an anoxic first stage to remove perchlorate and nitrate and aerobic second stage to remove remaining acetate used as a carbon source for dissimilatory reduction of perchlorate and nitrate. In final stage, hollow fiber MF membrane was used to remove turbidity. In this research, perchlorate was reduced from the influent concentration of 102 ${\mu}/L$ to below the IC detection level (5 ${\mu}/L$) and nitrate was reduced from 61.8 mg/L (14 mg/L $NO_3$-N) to 4.4 mg/L (1 mg/L $NO_3$-N). Acetate used as a carbon source was consumed from 179 mg/L $CH_3COO-$ to 117 and 11 mg/L $CH_3COO^-$ in effluents from anoxic and aerobic biofilm reactors, respectively. Turbidity was reduced from 3.0 NTU to 1.5, 0.3, and 0.2 NTU in effluents from anoxic/aerobic biofilm reactors and MF membrane, respectively. It is expected that the sequential anoxic/aerobic biofilm reactors and MF membrane system can efficiently remove perchlorate and nitrate in surface water or groundwater.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.71-76
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• 2012

Biofouling by marine organisms such as algae and barnacles causes lots of significant problems in marine systems such as a rise of the maintenance-repair cost for the ship and the marine structures. In this work, a fluoropolymer, perfluoropolyether (PFPE), was applied as an anti-biofouling coating material that prevents the adhesion of marine organisms and facilitates the removal of them. Water contact angles of various surfaces were tested to examine the hydrophobicity of the PFPE-modified surface. The PFPE-modified surface showed the water contact angle of $64.5^{\circ}$ which is a remarkable rise from $46.7^{\circ}$ of amine-treated surface. When the substrate was treated with PFPE, the adhesion on the of the barnacle and other marine organisms were repressed around 15% by the enhanced hydrophobicity. In addition, the removal the of the adhered marine organisms were better comparing to that of the surface prepared by PDMS. Surfaces of the substrate treated by PFPE were characterized through physical and chemical methods to analyze the biofouling results. Degree of biomolecular adhesion to the substrate was quantified by the measurement the fluorescence intensity of marine organisms dyed with green fluorescence. PFPE is expected to be applicable not only to anti-biofouling systems but also to medical devices where the prevention of protein adhesion is required.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.108-117
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• 2015

This study was carried out to assess problems related to legislative regulations and guidelines concerning some biological assessment systems applied to stream corridor in Korea. We comparatively reviewed the law of stream corridors and the guidelines for master plan concerned, and the law of water quality and health assessment criteria for the aquatic ecosystem concerned. Stream environments were not managed effectively due to the absence of detail regulations and the criteria for stream assessment. A biological assessment system was not equivalently integrated within the management of water resources in process implementation of projects resulting from the dualistic management system for stream corridors in Korea. The current biological assessment system was reflected to mainly physical habitats or only oriented to some aquatic species correlated with water quality. This system was also recognized as part of environment impact assessment based on an intensive survey method of most biological taxa. Conclusively rapid and quantitative assessment techniques based on advanced organisms, such as vegetation, fish and birds, etc. should be urgently provided for considering as representative indicators of stream conditions in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.248-259
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: Contaminated water was a major source of food-borne pathogens in various recent fresh produce-related outbreaks. This study was conducted to investigate the microbial contamination level and correlations between the level of sanitary indicator bacteria and the detection ratio of pathogens in agricultural water by logistic regression analysis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Agricultural water was collected from 457 sites including surface water (n=300 sites) and groundwater (n=157 sites) in South Korea from 2018 to 2020. Sanitary indicator bacteria (total coliform, fecal coliform, and Escherichia coli) and food-borne pathogens (pathogenic E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes) were analyzed. In surface water, the coliform, fecal coliform, and E. coli were 3.27±0.89 log CFU/100 mL, 1.90±1.19 log CFU/100 mL, and 1.39±1.26 log CFU/100 mL, respectively. For groundwater, three kinds of sanitary indicators ranged in the level from 0.09 - 0.57 log CFU/100 mL. Pathogenic E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes were detected from 3%-site, 1.5%- site, and 0.6%-site water samples, respectively. According to the results of correlations between the level of sanitary indicator bacteria and the detection ratio of pathogens by logistic regression analysis, the probability of pathogen detection increased individually by 1.45 and 1.34 times as each total coliform and E. coli concentration increased by 1 log CFU/100mL. The accuracy of the model was 70.4%, and sensitivity and specificity were 81.5% and 51.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION(S): The results indicate the need to manage the microbial risk of agricultural water to enhance the safety of fresh produce. In addition, logistic regression analysis is useful to analyze the correlation between the level of sanitary indicator bacteria and the detection ratio of pathogens in agricultural water.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.64-73
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• 2024

As the seriousness of habitat destruction caused by development projects emerges, the importance of environmental impact assessment (EIA) is increasing to preserve biodiversity. In previous studies, research is being conducted to quantitatively evaluate the biodiversity impact of development factors and surrounding environmental factors on the landscape scale, but research on the factors affecting the reduction of biodiversity based on development projects is insufficient. This study examined whether independent variables (size of development project, type of the development, DEM, ecosystem and nature map, distance from the green land, distance from the protected area), which have been proven to effect biodiversity through the previous researches, have a significant effect on the change of richness index (RI) through multi-class logistic regression analysis, T-test, and analysis of the development type. As a result, only the size of development project and the first richness index in EIA showed p-value less than 0.05. And it was confirmed that the reduction in biodiversity was significantly changed in the following construction types: installation of sports facilities, energy development, and development of industrial location and industrial complex. Since the results of this study confirmed that the impact of the variables may be inconsistent depending on the analysis scale, additional study of necessary indicators at the development project is needed to analyze biodiversity changes in EIA accurately.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.288-295
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• 2010

Metal exposure experiments using polychaete (Perinereis nuntia) as a bio-indicator of trace metals contamination were conducted to evaluate the bioaccumulation and the biomarkers responses such as metallothionein-like protein (MTLPs) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) which was simultaneously exposed to Cadmium (Cd) and Copper (Cu). Cu and Cd concentrations in polychaete were enhanced with increasing exposure time and their concentrations of aqueous medium. Initial accumulation of Cd was higher than that of Cu. Our results showed that the bioaccumulation of Cu and Cd were prohibited, especially at higher Cu levels, suggesting the different cellular uptake mechanisms when Cu and Cd are co-exist. Net accumulation rate of Cu was declined with exposure time but it did not show any significant change for Cd. Although the highest MTLPs concentration was observed at 6 hr of exposure time, it did not show any significant change related to exposure times and metals concentrations. An increase of GST activity tended to increase as a function of exposure time and metals concentrations. And GST activities in P. nuntia have similar tendency with bioconcentration factors in high concentration of Cu (treatment group IV) at post 24 h of exposure. Our results provide new information of the bioaccumulation and biomarker responses to understand the effects of co-existing contaminants (Cu and Cd) using polychaete. Further studies are required to elucidate the bioaccumulation and biomarkers responses for various contaminants.