• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2018

We sampled vomit of black-faced spoonbills(Platalea minor) during the brood-rearing season (from June 2011 to June 2014) at the Namdong reservoir in Incheon and analyzed the food components in the vomit using microscopy and next-generation sequencing (NGS). Microscopic observations primarily helped in identifying osteichthyes (bony fishes), crustaceans, and polychaetes. In particular, species belonging to the families Mugilidae and Gobiidae among the fish, and Macrophthalmus japonicas among the crustaceans, were observed at high frequency. Results of NGS analysis revealed the predominant presence of bony fish (42.58% of total reads) and crustaceans (40.75% of total reads), whereas others, such as polychaetes (12.66%), insects (0.24%), and unidentified species (3.78%), occurred in lower proportions. At the species level, results of NGS analysis revealed that Macrophthalmus abbreviates and Macrobrachium sp. among the crustaceans, and Acanthogobius hasta, Tridentiger obscurus, and Pterogobius zacalles among the bony fish, made up a high proportion of the total reads. These food species are frequently found at tidal flats in the Songdo and Sihwa lakes, emphasizing the importance of these areas as potential feeding sites of the black-faced spoonbill. Feed composition of the black-faced spoonbill, as evaluated by analyzing its vomit, differed when the evaluations were done by microscopic observation or by NGS analysis. Evaluation by microscopic observation is difficult and not error free, owing to the degradation of the samples to be analyzed; however, NGS analysis is more accurate, because it makes use of genetic information. Therefore, accurately analyzing food components from morphologically indistinguishable samples is possible by using genetic analysis.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.103-115
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to analyze fish fauna and species compositions along with trophic guilds, tolerance indicators, and fish community conditions before weir construction (BWC) and after weir construction (AWC) in the Yeongsan River watershed. Total 45 and 44 fish species were sampled in BWC and AWC, respectively without any distinct differences through weir constructions. Fish fauna analysis revealed that the dominant species was the same, Zacco platypus with 24.3% and 20.8% in BWC and AWC, respectively. However, the subdominant species were Carassius auratus with 8.9% in BWC but Opsarichthys uncirostris amurensis with 20.3%, almost identical that of the dominant species AWC. This phenomenon showed the distinct modification of species composition in the watershed. We sampled the $1^{st}$ class endangered species, Liobagrus obesus in tributary stream as previously reported. Also Culter brevicauda was sampled in the mainstream of Yeongsan River watershed and this was the first sampled record in this watershed. One of the most important features were an increase of exotic species, such as Micropterus salmoides and Lepomis macrochirus, with 3.2% BWC vs. 10.2% AWC as well as the increase in tolerant species with 49.2% BWC vs. 73.7% AWC, indicating ecological degradation through weir construction. Overall, our results indicated that fish fauna and composition analyses showed distinct ecological degradations related to increases of exotic and tolerant species AWC. Further long-term studies of fish monitoring should be conducted in the future to configure existent status of river conditions and to provide key information in order to conserve the healthy ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.272-279
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• 1999

This study was conducted to evaluate possibility for composting by microorganisms in food waste itself. In the result of counting of microorgansm in food waste, the number of bacteria growing at $30^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$ were counted $10^5-10^7CFU/g$ and $10^5-10^6\;CFU/g$ in the almost food waste, respectively. Amylase and protease producing microorgansim were counted $10^3-10^7\;CFU/g$ at $30^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$. In the result of composting for 30 days, FW1 was reveal that $CO_2$gas production rate and degradation of organic matter were similar to FW2 but higher than that of FW3, FM1 and FM2. Also, In the cases of change of enzyme producing microorgansim during the composting, FW1 were counted $10^5-10^9\;CFU/g$ at $30^{\circ}C$, $50^{\circ}C$ and $60^{\circ}C$ of incubation temperature, while FM1, added to commercial microbial inoculator, were less than that of FM1. Consequently, It was suggested that FW1 was most suitable condition for composting by microorganisms in food waste and there was no need to use microbial inoculator for composting.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) can be deposited on various substrates using chemical vapor deposition process, which results in the formation of PDMS thin films with thickness below 5 nm. PDMS layers can be evenly deposited on surfaces of nanoparticles composed of various chemical compositions such as $SiO_2$, $TiO_2$, ZnO, C, Ni, and NiO, and the PDMS-coated surface becomes completely hydrophobic. These hydrophobic layers are highly resistant towards degradation under acidic and basic environments and UV-exposures. Nanoparticles coated with PDMS can be used in various environmental applications: hydrophobic silica nanoparticles can selectively interact with oil from oil/water mixture, suppressing fast diffusion of spill-oil on water and allowing more facile physical separation of spill-oil from the water. Upon heat-treatments of PDMS-coated $TiO_2$ under vacuum conditions, $TiO_2$ surface becomes completely hydrophilic, accompanying formation oxygen vacancies responsible for visible-light absorption. The post-annealed $PDMS-TiO_2$ shows enhanced photocatalytic activity with respect to the bare $TiO_2$ for decomposition of organic dyes in water under visible light illumination. We show that the simple PDMS-coating process presented here can be useful in a variety of field of environmental science and technology.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.227-238
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• 2009

In the recent years, some organic toxic chemicals were used for obtaining high-yield productivity in agriculture. The undegraded pesticides may remain in the agricultural foods through atmosphere, water, and soil and cause public health problems to environmental resources and human beings even at very low concentrations. Small amounts of pesticides can affect a central nervous system, resulting in immunogenic diseases, infertility problems, respiratory diseases and born marrow diseases, which can lead even to death. Monitoring of the environmental pesticide is one of the important issues for the human well-being. Several kinds of biosensors have been successfully applied to the detection of agrichemical toxicity. Also, few platforms for biocide detection have been definitely developed for the degradation and reaction of pesticides. Biochip and electrochemistry experiments involve immobilizing a receptor molecule on a solid substrate surface, and monitoring its interaction with an analyze in a sample solution. Furthermore, nanotechnology can be applied to make high-throughput analyses that are smaller, faster and sensitive than conventional assays. Some nanomaterials or nanofabricated surfaces can be coupled to biomolecules and used in antibody-based assays and enzymatic methods for pesticide residues. The operation procedure has become more convenient as it does not require labeling procedure. In this paper, we review the recent advances in agrichemical defection research and also describe the label-free biosensor for pesticides using various useful detection methods.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.92-97
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• 2014

Perchlorate ($ClO_4^-$) is an emerging contaminant of soil/groundwater and surface water. $ClO_4^-$ has been shown to inhibit iodide uptake into the thyroid gland and cause a reduction in thyroid hormone production. $ClO_4^-$ is highly soluble and very stable in water. Biodegradation by $ClO_4^-$-reducing bacteria (PRB) is considered the most important factor in natural attenuation of $ClO_4^-$. Rivers in an industrial complex have potential to be contaminated with $ClO_4^-$ discharged from point or non-point sources. In this study, water samples were taken from the rivers running through the Gumi industrial complexes and used for batch test to analyze $ClO_4^-$-degradation potential of river microorganisms. The results of 83-h batch culture showed that $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency of all samples was 0.77% or less without addition of an external electron ($e^-$) donor. However $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency was higher when an $e^-$ donor (acetate, thiosulfate, $S^0$, or $F^0$) was added into the batch culture, showing up to 100% removal efficiency. The removal efficiency was various depending on type of $e^-$ donor and site of sampling. When acetate was used as an $e^-$ donor, the highest $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency was observed among the $e^-$ donors used in this study, suggesting that activity of heterotrophic PRB was dominant. The results of this study provide basic information on natural attenuation of $ClO_4^-$ by river microorganisms. The information can be useful to prepare a strategy to enhance efficiency of $ClO_4^-$ biodegradation for in situ bioremediation.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.179-185
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• 2007

A new technology that utilizes a microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been developed to generate electricity directly from the oxidation of organic matters such as carbohydrates or complex organics in wastewater. Fermentation of these organic matters results in production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), alcohols, $CO_2$ and $H_2$. We investigated the electricity-producing potential of the VFAs and actual food processing wastewater using a two-chambered MFC. The electrons produced by acetate degradation were proportional to acetate concentration in the medium. Acetate concentration and generated power were linearly correlated at a low range or acetate concentration (< 8 mg/L), but at above 8 mg/L of acetate the power produced was maintained at 0.1 mW. When butyrate was added to the anode acclimated to acetate, there was a lag period of 30 hr for electricity generation. However, when propionate was added to the same anode bottle, lag periods were not existed. The wastewater from baby food processing generated the maximum power density of $81{\pm}7\;mW/m^2$ of electricity and exhibited the Coulombic efficiencies of 27.1% and 40.5% based on TCOD and SCOD, respectively. Sugars in the food processing wastewater were reduced within 50 h from 230 mg/L < 30 mg/L.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.70-76
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• 2001

Proper design and improvement of the biofiltration process depend upon quantitative understanding of the kinetic behavior in the biofilter. This study was conducted to evaluate kinetics of biofiltration of gasoline vapor. Filling material of the biofilter was compost. Gas inlet concentration ranged from about $300mg/m^3$ to $7,000mg/m^3$. Gas velocities were 6m/hr and 15m/hr, respectively. At 6m/hr gas velocity, about 60% of gasoline TPH below $3,000mg/m^3$ was removed in the lower quarter part of the biofilter. First order kinetics described well the degradation rate of gasoline TPH with high correlation. First order kinetic removal constant at the gas velocity of 6m/hr was higher than that of 15m/hr from about $300mg/m^3$ to $7,000mg/m^3$. When the inlet concentration was over $3,000mg/m^3$, first order kinetic removal constant at the gas velocity of 6m/hr was over twice that at 15m/hr. In order to obtain over 80% of removal efficiency, gasoline vapor should be injected into the biofilter at concentration below about $2,000mg/m^3$, 100cm filling height and the gas velocity of 6m/hr.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.793-800
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• 2005

We isolated and identified microorganisms from the aerial environment of domestic museums. The fungi, Penicillium spp., Alternaria spp., and Cladosporium spp. were isolated in many museums. It seems that these fungi are related to biological degradation of textile remains. A total of 14 kinds of bacterial strains were isolated: Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Neisseria spp., Alcaligenes spp., Shigella spp., Klebsiella spp., Corynebacterium spp., Aerococcus spp., Bacillus spp., Micrococcus spp., Citrobacter spp., Erwinia spp., Salmonella spp., and Providencia spp. Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Neisseria spp., and Alcaligenes spp. were the predominate bacteria found in samples with a variety of bacteria. This suggests that there is a relationship between bacteria and the damage of textile remains. In the museum, we isolated Alternaria spp, Geotrichum spp., Penicillium spp. Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Alcaligenes spp. from the entrance, exhibit hall and storage, but they were found in smaller number and species in the exhibit cases and paulownia cases. We concluded that paulownia cases were not influenced by the microorganisms because of quality of care provided by the museum staff. Corynebacterium spp., and Bacillus spp. were not detected at the entrance and exhibit hall but were detected in paulownia cases. It is presumed that those bacteria did not flow in from outside, but resulted from contaminants in paulownia cases. In the distribution of microorganisms associated with textile remains, more fungi were detected than bacteria. Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Neisseria spp., were isolated from silk items. Penicillium spp. and Cladosporium spp. were isolated in the silk and hump items. Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. were isolated from the cotton items. On the other hands, there were no fungi strains in the wool items. Most of the isolated strains from textile remains were aerial microorganisms from the museum environment. These results suggest that textile remains were apt to contaminated by contact with the air.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.51-57
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• 2012

This study investigated on the photolytic degradation of Triclosan by E-beam process. The optimization of process was investigated during a series of batch experiments by design of experiments(DOEs). The DOE was one of the statistical application that was used for designed the response surface to determine the effects of each parameters. The responses were applied as removal rate of Triclosan(%, $Y_1$) and TOC removal rate(%, $Y_2$). Two independent variables were concentration of Triclosan and irradiation intensity that were designed as "$x_1$" and irradiation intensity was designed as "$x_2$". The regression equation in coded parameter between the Triclosan removal efficiencies(%) and TOC removal efficiencies(%) was $Y_1=63-12.4335x_1+15.1835x_2+5.8125x{_1}^2-5.6875x{_2}^2-0.75x_1x_2(R^2=95.1%,\;R^2(Adj)=91.7%)$ and $Y_2=46-8.8462x_1+11.7175x_2-0.75x{_1}^2-6.25x{_2}^2(R^2=98.7%,\;R^2(Adj)=97.7%)$, respectively. The model predictions agreed well with the experimentally observed results $R^2$ and $R^2(Adj)$ over 90% within both of $Y_1$ and $Y_2$. This result shows that the regression model express well about the effects of parameters on E-beam process and the statistical method was successfully applied.