• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.28.1-28.9
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• 2020

Streptomyces coelicolor is a gram-positive soil bacterium which is well known for the production of several antibiotics used in various biotechnological applications. But numerous proteins from its genome are considered hypothetical proteins. Therefore, the present study aimed to reveal the functions of a hypothetical protein from the genome of S. coelicolor. Several bioinformatics tools were employed to predict the structure and function of this protein. Sequence similarity was searched through the available bioinformatics databases to find out the homologous protein. The secondary and tertiary structure were predicted and further validated with quality assessment tools. Furthermore, the active site and the interacting proteins were also explored with the utilization of CASTp and STRING server. The hypothetical protein showed the important biological activity having with two functional domain including POD-like_MBL-fold and rhodanese homology domain. The functional annotation exposed that the selected hypothetical protein could show the hydrolase activity. Furthermore, protein-protein interactions of selected hypothetical protein revealed several functional partners those have the significant role for the bacterial survival. At last, the current study depicts that the annotated hypothetical protein is linked with hydrolase activity which might be of great interest to the further research in bacterial genetics.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.1-12
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• 2022

Estuary reservoirs were artificial reservoir with seawalls built at the exit points of rivers. Although many water resources can be saved, it is difficult to manage due to the large influx of pollutants. To manage this, it is necessary to analyze watersheds and reservoirs through accurate modeling. Therefore, in this study, we linked the Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF), Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC), and Water quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) models to simulate the hydrology and water quality of the watershed and the water level and quality of estuary lakes. As a result of applying the linked model in stream, R² 0.7 or more was satisfied for the watershed runoff except for one point. In addition, the water quality satisfies all within 15% of PBIAS. In reservoir, R² 0.72 was satisfied for water level and the water quality was within 15% of T-N and T-P. Through the modeling system, We applied upstream pollutant management scenarios to analyze changes in water quality in estuary reservoirs. Three pollution source management were applied as scenarios, the improvement of effluent water quality from the sewage treatment plant and the livestock waste treatment plant was effective in improving the quality of the reservoir water, while the artificial wetland had little effect. Water quality improvement was confirmed as a measure against upstream pollutants, but it was insufficient to achieve agricultural water quality, so additional reservoir management is required.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.44-54
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• 2023

PURPOSE. To assess the clinical performance of monolithic CAD-CAM lithium disilicate glass-ceramic (LDGC) crowns and metal-ceramic (MC) crowns provided by predoctoral students. This study also assessed the effects of patient and provider-related factors on their clinical performance as well as patient preference for these types of crowns. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Twenty-five patients who received 50 crowns (25 LDGC CAD-CAM and 25 MC) provided by predoctoral students were retrospectively examined. LDGC CAD-CAM crowns were milled in-house using the CEREC Bluecam system and cemented with either RelyX Unicem or Calibra Esthetic resin cements. MC crowns were cemented with RelyX Unicem cement. Clinical assessment of the crowns and the supporting periodontal structures were performed following the modified California Dental Association (CDA) criteria. Patients' preference was recorded using a visual analog scale (VAS). The results were statistically analyzed using log-rank test, Pearson Chi-squared test and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. RESULTS. Twelve complications were observed in the MC crown group (9-esthetic, 2-technical and 1-biological). In comparison, 2 complications in the LDGC CAD-CAM crown group were observed (1-technical and 1-esthetic). The 6-year cumulative survival rates for MC crowns and LDGC CAD-CAM were 90.8% and 96%, respectively, whereas the success rates were 83.4% and 96%, respectively. Overall, patients preferred the esthetic outcomes of LDGC CAD-CAM crowns over MC crowns. CONCLUSION. The high survival and success rates, low number of complications, and the high level of patients' acceptance of monolithic LDGC CAD-CAM crowns lend them well as predictable and viable alternatives to the "gold standard" MC crowns.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.32-38
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• 2023

Job stress factors are factors that induce biological, psychological, and behavioral responses in individuals when they encounter mental and physical stimuli in the workplace. According to occupational safety and health standards, employers are responsible for the health consequences of job stress when workers engage in activities that result in high levels of physical fatigue and mental stress. Such activities include long working hours, shift work (including night shifts), driving vehicles, and operating precision machinery. Therefore, precautionary measures should be implemented. Following the COVID-19 epidemic, the logistics industry in Korea has experienced rapid growth owing to the shift from offline to online platforms facilitated by advanced digital infrastructure. Consequently, this study conducted a survey to analyze job stress factors among delivery workers. The survey utilized a Korean job stress factor assessment tool comprising 43 items and analyzed job stress factors considering the work characteristics of the courier business field obtained from responses provided by 421 courier workers nationwide. The survey analysis revealed that the physical environment, job demands, and job autonomy exhibited higher stress indices among Korean workers. Furthermore, the younger the age, the higher the stress on job demands, whereas the higher the age, the higher the stress on relationship conflict, job instability, and workplace culture. In addition, daytime delivery work was associated with higher stress levels in job demands and job instability compared with nighttime delivery work. These findings can serve as foundational data for reducing and preventing job stress among courier workers, whose workload has increased owing to the growth of the logistics industry.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.278-286
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• 2023

The present work evaluated the production of biohydrogen under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions through dark fermentation of palm oil mill effluent (POME) in batch mode using the design of experiment methodology. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to investigate the influence of the two significant parameters, POME concentration as substrate (5, 12.5, and 20 g/l), and volumetric substrate to inoculum ratio (1:1, 1:1.5, and 1:2, v/v.%), with inoculum concentration of 14.3 g VSS/l. All the experiments were analyzed at 37 ℃ and 55 ℃ at an incubation time of 24 h. The highest chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, hydrogen content (H₂%), and hydrogen yield (HY) at a substrate concentration of 12.5 g COD/l and S:I ratio of 1:1.5 in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions were obtained (27.3, 24.2%), (57.92, 66.24%), and (6.43, 12.27 ml H₂/g COD_rem), respectively. The results show that thermophilic temperature in terms of COD removal was more effective for higher COD concentrations than for lower concentrations. Optimum parameters projected by RSM with S:I ratio of 1:1.6 and POME concentration of 14.3 g COD/l showed higher results in both temperatures. It is recognized how RSM and optimization processes can predict and affect the process performance under different operational conditions.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.843-853
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• 2021

The objectives of this paper were to simply estimate soil loss levels as caused by wind in reclaimed tidal flat land (RTFL) and the threshold wind velocity in the RTFL. For this experiment, RTFL located at Haenam Bay was selected and a total of 150 soil samples were collected at the Ap horizon from the five soil series. The particle distribution curves, including the limit of the non-erodible particle size (D > 0.84 mm) for each Ap horizon soil, show that the proportions of non-erodible particle sizes that exceeded 0.84 mm were 4.3% (Taehan, TH), 8.9% (Geangpo, GP), 0.5% (Bokchun, BC), 1.6% (Poseung, PS) and 1.4% (Junbook, JB), indicating that the amount of non-erodible soil particles increased with an increase in the sand content. The average monthly, daily and instantaneous wind velocities were higher than the threshold friction velocity (TFV) calculated according to the dynamic velocity (V_d) by Bagnold, while the average monthly wind velocity was lower than those of the TFV suggested by the revised wind erosion equation (RWEQ) and wind erosion prediction system (WEPS). The susceptible proportions of erodible soil particles from the Ap horizon soil samples from each soil series could be significantly influenced by the proportion of sand particles between 0.025 and 0.5 mm (or 0.84 mm) in diameter regardless of the threshold wind velocity. Thus, further investigations are needed to estimate more precisely soil erosion in RTFL, which shows various soil characteristics, as these estimations of soil loss in the five soil series were obtained only when considering wind velocities and soil textures.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.644-655
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• 2023

Safety assessment and functional analysis of probiotic candidates are important for their industrial applications. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum is one of the most widely recognized probiotic strains. In this study we aimed to determine the functional genes of L. plantarum LRCC5310, isolated from kimchi, using next-generation, whole-genome sequencing analysis. Genes were annotated using the Rapid Annotations using Subsystems Technology (RAST) server and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) pipelines to establish the strain's probiotic potential. Phylogenetic analysis of L. plantarum LRCC5310 and related strains showed that LRCC5310 belonged to L. plantarum. However, comparative analysis revealed genetic differences between L. plantarum strains. Carbon metabolic pathway analysis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database showed that L. plantarum LRCC5310 is a homofermentative bacterium. Furthermore, gene annotation results indicated that the L. plantarum LRCC5310 genome encodes an almost complete vitamin B₆ biosynthetic pathway. Among five L. plantarum strains, including L. plantarum ATCC 14917^T , L. plantarum LRCC5310 detected the highest concentration of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate with 88.08 ± 0.67 nM in MRS broth. These results indicated that L. plantarum LRCC5310 could be used as a functional probiotic for vitamin B₆ supplementation.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2021.06a
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• pp.456-456
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• 2021

하상 변화는 유량이나 유사의 흐름에 따라 침식, 운반, 퇴적되어 변화하며, 하상변동에 의한 결과는 하천의 형태 (직렬,복렬, 곡렬 등)나 서식처의 구조 (여울과 소, 웅덩이, 습지 등) 형성 로 나타난다. 이어서 서식처 구조의 다양성은 생물다양성에 긍정적인 영향을 미친다. 본 연구에서는 수리 (유량이나 유사량)-지형(서식처 구조)-생태 (생물다양성)을 연계하여 관리하기 위한 생태적인 하천관리 프레임을 제시하기 위하여, 지형과 생물상의 관계를 우선 파악하고자 한다. 국내 하천은 수생태 건강성 평가 중 서식 및 수변환경 지수(HRI, Habitat and Riparian Index)를 활용하여 하천의 형상 및 자연성을 평가한다. 해당 지수는 하천의 자연성을 판단할 수 있으나 유량이나 유사량 등과 같이 수리적 조건과 연계하여 하천환경 변화를 예측하기 어렵기 때문에, 본 연구에서는 하천의 자연성을 판단하는 지형변수들을 제안하고, 생물상과 상관관계를 분석한다. 수질 변화가 급격하지 않는(년간 변화폭이 일정한) 금강 유역의 지천 (갑천, 미호천, 논산천, 유구천 등) 중 생태계 건강성 평가 지수가 산정되어 있는 지점을 기준으로 상·하류 약 5 km 구간들을 대상으로 한다. 지형 변수로는 (항공사진을 이용한)사주 비율(사주면적/제방 내 홍수터 면적), 사주 식생비율(식생면적/사주면적)과 사주 변동량(연간 사주 이동량), 서식처 구조의 다양성(여울, 소, 웅덩이 등), 기존의 서식 및 수변환경 지수 등을 활용하고, 생물 변수로는 저서동물지수(BMI, Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index), 저서동물의 우점도, 어류생물지수(FAI, Fish Assessment Index), 어류생물지수에 활용하는 국내종의 총 종수, 여울성 저서종수, 민감종수 등을 활용한다.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2023

Excess N and P from the livestock manure applied to farmlands, have entered the water systems and poses a serious threat to the natural environment. Consequently, there has been recent awareness towards the management of livestock manure and its related fields. In this study, piggery wastewater was collected from a piggery in Pohang city, Korea. At 800℃, thermal decomposition of a natural stone, magnesite (MgCO₃), yielded powered MgO with particle sizes ranging between 10 to 100 ㎛. Furthermore, NH₄⁺-N and PO₄^3--P were recovered as struvite precipitates from the piggery wastewater, by adjusting the pH with MgO and H₃PO₄. At pH 10, the recovery efficiencies of NH₄⁺-N and PO₄^3--P were found to be 86.1% and 94.1%, respectively. Using an X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), the struvite in the precipitate was confirmed to be consistent with standard pure struvite. Further, the purity of the struvite precipitate was analyzed using an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and thermal gravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), and found to be between 79.2% and 93.0%. Additionally, struvite-containing piggery wastewater and sawdust were mixed in a weight ratio of 2.5:1 and processed into a mature compost. The newly manufactured compost passed all quality standards required for first-class graded livestock composts. Moreover, this compost was sprayed directly onto the soil at the test site, and various parameters of the soil's effluent, such as total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (T-N), total phosphorus (T-P), and dissolved oxygen (DO), were analyzed and measured. Based on these results, it is determined that the newly manufactured compost can more significantly reduce water pollution than commercial compost.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.104-114
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• 2023

In this study, the distribution, bait preference, hosts, symbionts, habitat status, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences of the ant Linepithema humile were analyzed. This species habitat comprised approximately 1.5 km along stone crevices, flower gardens, roadsides, and container yards in the vicinity of Busan station, Korea. Feeding activity of this species was confirmed in 9 species of 7 families of plants. Which was approximately 14% of total flora (63 species of 37 families) in the studied area. Particularly, it was observed that Dendranthema indicum and Camellia japonica were the most frequently visited. Further, we verified that they interacted with four species of aphids. We identified 22 species of ants (17 genera, 4 subfamilies) inhabiting the Busan station area, including L. humile, Tetramorium tsushimae, Nylanderia flavipes and the alien species Paratrechina longicornis. In areas where L. humile was the dominant species, the habitat of local native ants was reduced by approximately 30%. Bait preference was ranked in the following order: jelly, water with glucose (25%), and yogurt, with the highest preference for baits containing sugar and protein. The 630-bp cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences of the local L. humile populations were 99% identical to those of L. humile in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, and the Argentine ants that invaded Korea had a sequence identical to that of other invasive populations from China, Japan, and New Zealand. As L. humile rapidly increases due to domestic adaptation, continuous monitoring and control strategy for eradication are needed to protect domestic biodiversity.