• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2017

This study was conducted to develop an agent-based computing platform enabling simulation of on-farm produce contamination by enteric foodborne pathogens, which is herein called PPMCS (Preharvest Produce Microbial Contamination Simulator). Also, fecal contamination of preharvest produce was simulated using PPMCS. Although Agent-based Modeling and Simulation, the tool applied in this study, is rather popular in where socio-economical human behaviors or ecological fate of animals in their niche are to be predicted, the incidence of on-farm produce contamination which are thought to be sporadic has never been simulated using this tool. The agents in PPMCS including crop, animal as a source of fecal contamination, and fly as a vector spreading the fecal contamination are given their intrinsic behaviors that are set to be executed at certain probability. Once all these agents are on-set following the intrinsic behavioral rules, consequences as the sum of all the behaviors in the system can be monitored real-time. When fecal contamination of preharvest produce was simulated in PPMCS as numbers of animals, flies, and initially contaminated plants change, the number of animals intruding cropping area affected most on the number of contaminated plants at harvest. For further application, the behaviors and variables of the agents are adjustable depending on user's own scenario of interest. This feature allows PPMCS to be utilized in where different simulating conditions are tested.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.86 no.4
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• pp.466-475
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• 1997

I examined arbuscular mycorrhizal(AM) fungus inoculation effects on the seedling growth of Korean ash tree(Fraxinus rhynchophylla Hance), which distributes in fertile mesic soils, under a seven-day watering cycle of water stress and compost-added fertile conditions. Three Korea-native AM fungi were inoculated : an unidentified Glomus species, Gigaspora margarita Becker & Hall and Scutellospora heterogama(Nicol. & Gerd) Walker & Sanders from disturbed forest soils. The effect of AM fungus inoculation on the seedling varied depending upon fungal species and soil conditions. AM formation was 27 to 65% by the Glomus without forming spores, 47 to 74% with about 10 spores per 20g soil by G. margarita and about 65% with 35 spores by S. heterogama. The soil conditions did not affect either AM or spore formation. The Glomus inoculation increased shoot N and P concentrations, but did not affect seedling growth. G. margarita increased shoot N and P, irrespective of soil conditions, in general, but S. heterogama increased N under water stress and Pin the control soil only. These two fungi significantly increased seedling growth in both control and water stress soils. Compost addition increased the growth of non-mycorrhizal seedlings and offset AM fungus inoculation effects. The relative field mycorrhizal dependency(RFMD) of the seedlings was significant only in control and water stress soils by over 40% in G. margarita or S. heterogama AM plants. Under water stress RFMD was the most evident in S. heterogama AM plants. I conclude that some AM fungi such as G, margarita and S. heterogama can broaden the niche of Korean ash seedlings to a water stress or nutrient poor site but less likely to more fertile sites.