• Title/Summary/Keyword: Bio-system

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Generation of a Specific Marker to Discriminate Bacillus anthracis from Other Bacteria of the Bacillus cereus Group

  • Kim, Hyoung-Tai;Seo, Gwi-Moon;Jung, Kyoung-Hwa;Kim, Seong-Joo;Kim, Jee-Cheon;Oh, Kwang-Geun;Koo, Bon-Sung;Chai, Young-Gyu
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.17 no.5
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    • pp.806-811
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    • 2007
  • Bacillus anthracis is a soil pathogen capable of causing anthrax that is closely related to several environmental species, including B. cereus, B. mycoides, and B. thuringiensis. DNA homology studies showed that B. anthracis, B. cereus, B. mycoides, and B. thuringiensis are closely related, with a high sequence homology. To establish a method to specifically detect B. anthracis in situations such as environmental contamination, we initially performed RAPD-PCR with a 10-mer random primer and confirmed the presence of specific PCR bands only in B. anthracis species. One region specific for B. anthracis was cloned and sequenced, and an internal primer set was designed to amplify a 241-bp DNA fragment within the sequenced region. The PCR system involving these specific primer sets has practical applications. Using lyses methods to prepare the samples for PCR, it was possible to quickly amplify the 241-bp DNA segment from samples containing only a few bacteria. Thus, the PCR detection method developed in this study is expected to facilitate the monitoring of environmental B. anthracis contamination.

Automatic Control System for Cultivation Environment of Crops (농작물 육성에 필요한 환경 자동제어 시스템)

  • Ahn, Woo-young;Lee, Hyun-chang
    • Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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    • v.20 no.11
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    • pp.2167-2171
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    • 2016
  • The purpose of the cultivated crops have been changes in the aim of improving quality production. In recent years, as people's attention on health, the demand for healthy crops such as mushrooms gradually increased. In the process of mushroom factory production, regulation of environmental factors directly affects the yield and quality of mushroom. In related to the methods of mushroom cultivation, the recent technologies apply the new technology such as sensors and IT convergence services. And then cultivating mushroom is managed effectively. Farmers use plastic greenhouse cultivation mode more and more in order to reduce the impact of outdoor environment on crop cultivation, which requires farmers to adjust the greenhouse temperature at any time. But the majority of farmers still use a thermometer to measure temperature. This paper constructs an environment that can automatically adjust the temperature, so as to measuring temperature in real time, improving the efficiency of the farm work, and reducing unnecessary labor.

Preparation and characterization of isosorbide based PET/polycarbonate blends (Isosorbide가 함유된 바이오 기반 PET와 polycarbonate 블렌드의 제조 및 특성 연구)

  • Park, Ji-Soo;Nam, Byeong-Uk;Park, Jun-Seo
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.1216-1221
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    • 2014
  • Poly(ethylene-co-isosorbide terephthalate) (PEIT) is interest in polymer which has isosorbide monomer that is renewable resources such as corn. However, there is important drawback which is low mechnical properties as increasing isosorbide contents. In this study, polycarbonate used to make up for drawback of mechanical properties of PEIT. In addition, PEIT used to improve the tensile elongation of polycarbonate because PEIT has good sheet proccessability. The effect of polycarbonate on morphology, thermal and mechanical properties were investigated using FE-SEM, DMA, TGA, UTM, and notched izod impact strength tester. As a result of this study, PEIT/PC blends were in compatible system and polycarbonate can act as an improvement of thermal stability and mechanical properties in the blends.

Estimation for Dynamic Deformation of the Cushioning Materials of Packaging for the Pears by Shock and Vibration During Transportation (유통 중 진동충격에 의한 배 포장 완충재의 동적 변위 추정)

  • Jung, Hyun-Mo;Park, In-Sig;Kim, Man-Soo
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.17-24
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    • 2005
  • During handling unitized products, they are subjected to a variety environmental hazards. Shock and vibration hazards are generally considered the most damaging of the environmental hazards on a product, and it may encounter while passing through the distribution environment. A major cause of shock damage to products is drops during manual handling. The increasing use of unitization on pallets has been resulted in a reduction in the manual handling of products and with it a reduction in the shock hazards. This has caused and increasing interest in research focused on vibration caused damage. the use of pallets as a base for unitizing loads, aids in the mechanical handling, transportation and storage of products. Besides aiding in the handling, transportation and storage of products, a pallet also acts on and interface between the packaged goods and the distribution environment. The determination of the impact deformation of the cushioning materials such as tray cup (polymeric foam) and corrugated fiberboard pad must be carried out to design the proper packaging system providing adequate protection for the fruit, and to understand the complex interaction between the components of fruit when they relate to expected transportation vibration inputs. In this study, the theoretical analysis of impact deformation for cushioning materials by dynamic vibration. The impact deformations of SW and DW corrugated fiberboard pad in acceleration amplitudes of 0.25 G-rms and 0.5 G-rms that were usually generated in transport vehicles during distribution environments were very small compare with the thickness of corrugated fiberboard pad. The maximum of vibration acceleration level of tray cup by vibration impact was about 3.2 G-rms. The theoretical allowable acceleration (G-factor) of the pear was 0.7102 G-rms, and the maximum dynamic deformation estimated within G-factor was about 1 mm.

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Hazards and Workplace Management of Ammonium nitrate (Ammonium nitrate의 유해성과 작업환경 관리)

  • Kim, Hyeon-Yeong;Hwang, Yang-In;Kuk, Won-Kwen
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.235-243
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    • 2012
  • Objectives: The purpose of this study is the work environment management method through risk assessment and investigation of the work place that deals with Ammonium nitrate, based on information in and outside the country. Methods: This study suggests method of work environment management through risk assessment and investigation of the work place that deals with Ammonium nitrate, and finds out cases of Ammonium nitrate causing hazard, danger and health risk, based on literature investigation. Results: Rats exposed repeatedly to $LD_{50}$ 2,217 mg/kg(rat), $LC_{50}$ 88.8 mg/L(rat, skin) which cause high level of skin irritation, reported 1 $mg/m^3$ of NOAEL, while LOAEL was less than 100 mg/kg for the rats orally administered with the $LD_{50}$ 2,217 mg/kg(rat), $LC_{50}$ 88.8 mg/L(rat, skin), for 13 weeks. Domestically 31,640 ton/y of ammonium nitrate has been used in 22 workplace and the result of workplace assessment was 0.0171-0.9983 $mg/m^3$. ADD was 8.77-59.63 ${\mu}g/kg-day$ according to the exposure scenario. In other words the result of the risk assessment goes beyond the 'standard 1'. Conclusions: Ammonium nitrate creates a high level of irritation and toxicity when coming in breathe it or contact with skin, and is classified as category3 of GHS and specific target organ toxicant (irritating respiratory system). Exposure level at work places needs to be maintained under $1mg/m^3$, to prevent workers from being damaged.

Developing a New BNR (Parallel BNR) Process by Computer Simulation (컴퓨터 시뮬레이션을 이용한 신 생물학적 고도처리 (병렬 고도처리) 공법 개발)

  • Lee, Byonghi;Lee, Yong-Woon
    • Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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    • v.16 no.6
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    • pp.670-678
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    • 2002
  • Since Korean government imposed a stricter regulation on effluent T-N and T-P concentrations from wastewater treatment plant, a new process has to be developed to meet these rules and this process should remove T-N and T-P, economically, from weak wastewater that is typical for Korea's combined sewer system sewage. In this study, a computer simulator, BioWin from EnviroSim, Inc. was used. Three processes - A2/O, Modified Johannesburg, UCT- had been simulated under same operational conditions and a new process - Parallel BNR Process - had been developed based on these simulation results. The Parallel BNR process consists of two rows of reactors: One row has anaerobic and aerobic reactors in series, and the other row has RAS anoxic1 and RAS anoxic2 reactors in series. In order to ensure anaerobic state in anaerobic tank, a part of influent is fed to RAS anoxic1 tank in second row. This process had been simulated under same conditions of other three processes and the simulation results were compared. The results showed that three existing processes could not perform biological phosphorus removal when the average influent was fed at any operation temperatures. However, the Parallel BNR process was found that biological phosphorus removal could be performed when both design and average influent were fed at any operation temperatures. This process showed the T-N concentration in effluent had a maximum value of 15mg/L when design influent was fed at $13^{\circ}C$ and a minimum value of 14mg/L when average influent was fed at $20^{\circ}C$. Also, T-P concentrations had a maximum value of 1.3mg/L when average influent was fed at $20^{\circ}C$ and a minimum value of 1.1mg/L when design influent was fed at $13^{\circ}C$. Based on these results, we found that this process can remove nitrogen and phosphorus biologically under any operational conditions.

Psychological, Physical and Genetic Traits of Sasang Typology (사상인(四象人)의 생리적 특성 연구)

  • Chae, Han;Hong, Moo-Chang;Bae, Hyun-Su;Shin, Min-Kyu
    • Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.304-314
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    • 2005
  • The major concept of Sasang typology is that the disease susceptibility and drug response as well as physiological characteristics are presumed to be different depending on their Sasang types. Although characterizing fundamental basis of their traits are crucial in this research field, only pathological susceptibility and physical appearances were thoroughly studied. We evaluated their physiological characteristics by tapping psychological, physical and genetic traits of each Sasang types. After determining the Sasang type of one hundred three college students based on the Questionnaire for the Sasang Constitution Classification, the psychological, physical and genetic traits of each type were analyzed with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis and genetic polymorphism test, respectively. Each of the Sasang types showed significantly different profiles (Generalized estimation equation, coef=11.88, z=2.13, p=0.033), and could be distinctively classified based on their MBTI scores (discriminant analysis Wilks Lambda=0.611, df=8, chi-square=36.7, p<0.001). Subjects with the So-Eum type (Introversion and Judging) and the So-Yang type (Extroversion and Perceiving) showed contrasting psychological features, however they had similar anthropometric characteristics. Subjects with the Tae-Eum type showed bigger Body Mass Index ($R^2$=0.22, df=4, 74, F=5.07, p=0.001) and body shape compared to others. Although there were no significant differences in G-protein beta-3 subunit polymorphism, angiotensin-converting enzyme polymorphism and Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymprhisms among groups with Sasang types, it was shown that the dopamine system could be one for genetic marker for Sasang typology. These results demonstrated distinctive and essential traits of Sasang typology using reproducible psychometric, anthropometric and genetic evaluations. We also found that the Sasang typology was a bio-psychological typology which could show trait-specific guideline for individualized medicine.

Effect of Microalgal Extracts of Tetraselmis suecica against UVB-Induced Photoaging in Human Skin Fibroblasts

  • Jo, Wol Soon;Yang, Kwang Mo;Park, Hee Sung;Kim, Gi Yong;Nam, Byung Hyouk;Jeong, Min Ho;Choi, Yoo Jin
    • Toxicological Research
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    • v.28 no.4
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    • pp.241-248
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    • 2012
  • Exposure of cells to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation can induce production of free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which damage cellular components. In addition, these agents can stimulate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and decrease collagen synthesis in human skin cells. In this study, we examined the anti-photoaging effects of extracts of Tetraselmis suecica (W-TS). W-TS showed the strongest scavenging activity against 2,2-difenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and peroxyl radicals, followed by superoxide anions from the xanthine/xanthine oxidase system. We observed that the levels of both intracellular ROS and lipid peroxidation significantly increased in UVB-irradiated human skin fibroblast cells. Furthermore, the activities of enzymatic antioxidants (e.g., superoxide dismutase) and the levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants (e.g., glutathione) significantly decreased in cells. However, W-TS pretreatment, at the maximum tested concentration, significantly decreased intracellular ROS and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and increased superoxide dismutase and glutathione levels in the cells. At this same concentration, W-TS did not show cytotoxicity. Type 1 procollagen and MMP-1 released were quantified using RT-PCR techniques. The results showed that W-TS protected type 1 procollagen against UVB-induced depletion in fibroblast cells in a dose-dependent manner via inhibition of UVB-induced MMP-1. Taken together, the results of the study suggest that W-TS effectively inhibits UVB-induced photoaging in skin fibroblasts by its strong anti-oxidant ability.

Evaluation of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase Inhibitory Activity of Jeju Seaweeds Using High Throughput Screening (HTS) Technique

  • Ko, Seok-Chun;Lee, Seung-Hong;Kang, Sung-Myung;Ahn, Ginnae;Cha, Seon-Heui;Jeon, You-Jin
    • Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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    • v.5 no.4
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    • pp.33-39
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    • 2011
  • As a rapid and quick bioactive compound evaluation technique, we utilized an automatic system of high throughput screening (HTS) to investigate ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory efficacy of seaweeds, collected from Jeju Island in Korea. In this study, different extracts with methanol at $20^{\circ}C$ and $70^{\circ}C$ from 23 species of brown seaweeds and 22 species of red seaweeds and 9 species of green seaweeds were subjected to HTS. Of the brown seaweeds tested, Myelophycus simplex (20B3), Ishige sinicola (20B5, 70B5), Colpomenia sinuosa, (20B14, 70B14), Hizikia fusiforme (20B21), Ishige okamurai (70B22) and Ecklonia cava (70B23) showed significantly high ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity with 96.52%, 98.34%, 98.37%, 80.49%, 96.16%, 76.32%, 98.32% and 98.12%. Schizymenia dubyi (20R15), Gelidium amansii (20R16) and Polysiphonia japonica (70R22) amomng the red seaweeds showed remarkable ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity more than 95%. On the other hand, the green seaweeds showed poor ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities (less the10%) at 1 mg/ml.

Effect of Hydrophilic- and Hydrophobic-Media on the Fermentative Hydrogen Production in Trickling Bed Biofilter (생물학적 수소생산을 위한 Trickling Bed Biofilter에서의 친수성과 소수성 담체의 영향)

  • Jeon, Byung-Seung;Lee, Sun-Mi;Kim, Yong-Hwan;Chae, Hee-Jeong;Sang, Byoung-In
    • 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2006.06a
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    • pp.465-469
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    • 2006
  • Two mesophilic trickling bed bioreactors filled with two different types of media, hydrophilic- and hydrophobic-cubes, were designed and tested for hydrogen production via anaerobic fermentation of sucrose. Each reactor consisted of a column packed with polymeric cubes and inoculated with heat-treated sludge obtained from anaerobic digestion tank. A defined medium containing sucrose was fed with changing flow rate into the capped reactor, hydraulic retention time and recycle rate. Hydrogen concentrations in gas-phase were constant, averaging 40% for all conditions tested. Hydrogen production rates increased up to $10.5 L{\cdot};h^{-1}{\cdot}L^{-1}$ of reactor when influent sucrose concentrations and recycle rates were varied. Hydrophobic media provided higher value of hydrogen production rate than hydrophilic media at the same operation conditions. No methane was detected when the reactor was under a normal operation. The major fermentation by-products in the liquid effluent of the both trickling biofilters were acetate and butyrate. The reactor filled with hydrophilic media became clogged with biomass and bio gas, requiring manual cleaning of the system, while no clogging occurred in the reactor with hydrophobic media. In order to make long-term operation of the reactor filled with hydrophilic media feasible, biofilm accumulation inside the media in the reactor with hydrophilic media and biogas produced from the reactor will need to be controlled through some process such as periodical backwashing or gas-purging. These tests using trickling bed biofilter with hydrophobic media demonstrate the feasibility of the process to produce hydrogen gas in a trickle-bed type of reactor. A likely application of this reactor technology could be hydrogen gas recovery from pre-treatment of high carbohydrate-containing wastewaters.

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