• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
• /
• 1998.10a
• /
• pp.2-4
• /
• 1998

Proliferation of Nocardia amarae cells in activated sludge has often been associated with the generation of nuisance foams. Despite intense research activities in recent years to examine the causes and control of Nocardia foaming in activated sludge, the foaming continued to persist throughout the activated sludge treatment plants in United States. In addition to causing various operational problems to treatment processes, the presence of Nocardia may have secondary effects on the fate of heavy metals that are not well known. For example, for treatment plants facing more stringent metal removal requirements, potential metal removal by Nocardia cells in foaming activated sludge would be a welcome secondary effect. In contrast, with new viosolid disposal regulations in place (Code o( Federal Regulation No. 503), higher concentration of metals in biosolids from foaming activated sludge could create management problems. The goal of this research was to investigate the metal sorption property of Nocardia amarae cells grown in batch reactors and in chemostat reactors. Specific surface area and metal sorption characteristics of N. amarae cells harvested at various growth stages were compared. Three metals examined in this study were copper, cadmium and nickel. Nocardia amarae strain (SRWTP isolate) used in this study was obtained from the University of California at Berkeley. The pure culture was grown in 4L batch reactor containing mineral salt medium with sodium acetate as the sole carbon source. In order to quantify the sorption of heavy metal ions to N amarae cell surfaces, cells from the batch reactor were harvested, washed, and suspended in 30mL centrifuge tubes. Metal sorption studies were conducted at pH 7.0 and ionlc strength of 10-2M. The sorption Isotherm showed that the cells harvested from the stationary and endogenous growth phase exhibited significantly higher metal sorption capacity than the cells from the exponential phase. The sequence of preferential uptake of metals by N. amarae cells was Cu>Cd>Ni. The specific surFace area of Nocardia cells was determined by a dye adsorption method. N.amarae cells growing at ewponential phase had significantly less specific surface area than that of stationary phase, indicating that the lower metal sorption capacity of Nocardia cells growing at exponential phase may be due to the lower specific surface area. The growth conditions of Nocardia cells in continuous culture affect their cell surface properties, thereby governing the adsorption capacity of heavy metal. The comparison of dye sorption isotherms for Nocardia cells growing at various growth rates revealed that the cell surface area increased with increasing sludge age, indicating that the cell surface area is highly dependent on the steady-state growth rate. The highest specific surface area of 199m21g was obtained from N.amarae cell harvested at 0.33 day-1 of growth rate. This result suggests that growth condition not only alters the structure of Nocardia cell wall but also affects the surface area, thus yielding more binding sites of metal removal. After reaching the steady-state condition at dilution rate, metal adsorption isotherms were used to determine the equilibrium distributions of metals between aqueous and Nocardia cell surfaces. The metal sorption capacity of Nocardia biomass harvested from 0.33 day-1 of growth rate was significantly higher than that of cells harvested from 0.5- and 1-day-1 operation, indicatng that N.amarae cells with a lower growth rate have higher sorpion capacity. This result was in close agreement with the trend observed from the batch study. To evaluate the effect of Nocardia cells on the metal binding capacity of activated sludge, specific surface area and metal sorption capacity of the mixture of Nocardia pure cultures and activated sludge biomass were determined by a series of batch experiments. The higher levels of Nocardia cells in the Nocardia-activated sludge samples resulted in the higher specific surface area, explaining the higher metal sorption sites by the mixed luquor samples containing greater amounts on Nocardia cells. The effect of Nocardia cells on the metal sorption capacity of activated sludge was evaluated by spiking an activated sludge sample with various amounts of pre culture Nocardia cells. The results of the Langmuir isotherm model fitted to the metal sorption by various mixtures of Nocardia and activated sludge indicated that the mixture containing higher Nocardia levels had higher metal adsorption capacity than the mixture containing lower Nocardia levels. At Nocardia levels above 100mg/g VSS, the metal sorption capacity of activate sludge increased proportionally with the amount of Noeardia cells present in the mixed liquor, indicating that the presence of Nocardia may increase the viosorption capacity of activated sludge.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.41 no.8
• /
• pp.1094-1099
• /
• 2012

This study investigated the effect of a long-term high-fat diet on energy metabolic substrate utilization in resting rats in order to revalue source fat energy efficiency during a high-fat diet and its effect on energy expenditure and body fat accumulation. Sprague-Dawley male rats at 4 weeks of age were bought from Orient Bio Con. The rats were divided into a control (CON) group and a high-fat diet (HF) group. Rats ate a high-fat diet (w/w 40%, kcal/kcal 64.9%) ad libitum for 5 weeks. Food intake and body weight were measured every day at 09:00 throughout the experimental period. Energy expenditure was measured using an animal energy metabolism chamber after 4 weeks. The final body weight did not change between the CON and HF groups, but caloric intake was significantly higher in the HF group than in the CON group (p<0.05). There was no difference between the groups in oxygen uptake, however carbon dioxide production was significantly higher in the HF group. Also, the respiratory exchange ratio was higher in the HF group. Carbohydrate oxidation was lower in the HF group than in the CON group, but fat oxidation in the HF group was greater. These results mean that energy substrate oxidation at rest is affected by diet composition, especially dietary fat content. Abdominal fat fad weights were significantly higher by 33% in the HF group than in the CON group even though the calorie intake in the HF group was higher by 6%. These results suggested that the dietary fat calorie value might have a higher Atwater value of 9 kcal/g, which mean that dietary fat calorie values could be reconsidered in body weight control scenarios such as which the obese or weight class athletes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.112 no.4
• /
• pp.502-514
• /
• 2023

This study was conducted to understand the long-term changes in soil physiochemical properties and seedling growth in Larix kaempferi (larch) stands planted in clear-cut larch and Pinus rigida (pine) forest soils over an 11-year period after reforestation. Two-year-old bare-root larch seedlings were planted in 2009-2010 at a density of 3,000 seedlings ha^-1 in clear-cut areas that harvested larch (Chuncheon and Gimcheon) and pine (Wonju and Gapyeong) stands. We analyzed the physiochemical properties of the mineral soils sampled at 0-20 cm soil depths in the planting year, and the 3^rd, 7^thand 11^th years after planting, and we measured seedling height and root collar diameter in those years. We found significant differences in soil silt and clay content, total carbon and nitrogen concentration, available phosphorus, and cation exchangeable capacity between the two stands; however, seedling growth did not differ. The mineral soil was more fertile in Gimcheon than in the other plantations, while early seedling growth was greatest in Gapyeong. The seedling height and diameter at 11 years after planting were largest in Wonju (1,028 tree ha^-1) and Chuncheon (1,359 tree ha^-1) due to decreases in stand density after tending the young trees. The soil properties in all plantations were similar 11 years after larch planting. In particular, the high sand content and high available phosphorus levels (caused by soil disturbance during clear-cutting and planting) showed marked decreases, potentially due to soil organic matter input and nutrient uptake, respectively. Thus, early reforestation after clear-cutting could limit nutrient leaching and contribute to soil stabilization. These results provide useful information for nutrient management of larch plantations.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.181-195
• /
• 2005

To study the effects of aquaculture activity of marine cage fish farms on marine environment, field researches including hydrography, sediment, benthos and trap experiment at the marine cage fish farms(Site A) around estuaries of Tongyeong city were carried out during June $26\~27$, 2003. A simulation using numerical model-DEPOMOD was conducted to predict the solid deposition from fish cage and to assess the probable solid deposition, and the efficiency of environmental management of marine cage fish farms was studied. The marine cage fish farms cultured mainly common sea bass (Lateolabrax japonicus), red seabream (Pagrus major), striped breakperch (Oplegnathus fasciatus) and black rockfish(Sebastes schlegeli), and total amount of cultured fish of the Site A were 23.1MT. The amount of husbandry fish by unit area(and volume) of the fish cage was $43.0kg\;m^{-2}(6.1kg\;m^{-3})$. The daily mean amounts of food fed by unit biomass and cage area were $30.8g\;kg^{-1}day^{-1},\;1.32kg\;m^{-2}day^{-1},$ respectively, at the Site A. The concentration of ORP of the sediment below the center at the Site A was -334.6 mV and the concentrations of AVS, COD, Carbon and Nitrogen were $0.43mg\;g^{-1}dry,\;17.75mg\;g^{-1}dry,\;10.19mg\;g^{-1}dry\;and\;3.49mg\;g^{-1}dry$, respectively. Capitella capitata was dominant benthic species which occupied $57.8\%$ of total species, and the Infaunal Trophical Index(ITI) was marked below 20 within 20 m distance from the edge of the Site A. The result of trap experiment, the solid deposition from the Site A was $34,485g\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ at 0 m from the center of the cage and $18,915g\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ at 42 m. From a model simulation, it was estimated that using a model simulation, the proportion of unfed food was $40\%$ at the Site A and the annual total amount of solid deposition was 63,401 accounting for $24.4\%$ of the annual total food fed at the Site A. The area solid deposition settled was estimated to be $8,450m^2$, which was about 16 times of the total area of fish cage at the Site A. And concerning ITI and abundance of benthos, the model predicted that sustainable solid flux at the Site A was below $10,000gm^{-2}yr^{-1}$. The percentage of food wasted was main element of solid deposition at the marine cage fish farms, and for minimizing solid deposition it is necessary to increase the efficiency of the food uptake. Based on the result of the model simulation, if the percentage of food wasted decreases to $10\%$ from the current $40\%$, then the solid deposition could decrease to a half. In addition, it was predicted that if farmers use EP pellets as food fed instead of MP and fish trash, solid deposition could decrease by $57\%$. Also this study proposes that the cage facility ratio of the licensed area be decreased to less than $5\%$ to minimize the sediment pollution.