Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) in the water environment assemble fine, colloidal particles, such as clays, microorganisms and biomass, in large flocs, which are eventually subject to sedimentation and deposition and determine water/sediment quality and quantity. This study hence aimed to investigate the way that water and colloidal chemistry affects EPS-mediated flocculation of colloidal particles, using a jar-test experiment. Especially, ionic strength, divalent cation and humic substances concentrations were selected as experimental variables in the jar-test experiments, to elucidate their effects on EPS-mediated flocculation. A higher ionic strength increased flocculation capability, reducing electrostatic repulsion between EPS-attached colloidal particles and enhancing particle aggregation. 0.1 M NaCl ionic strength had higher flocculation capability, with 3 times larger floc size and 2.5 times lower suspended solid concentration, than 0.001 M NaCl. Divalent cations, such as $Ca^{2+}$, built divalent cationic bridges between colloidal particles and EPS (i.e., $colloid-Ca^{2+}-EPS$ or $EPS-Ca^{2+}-EPS$) and hence made colloidal particles to build into large, settelable flocs. A small $Ca^{2+}$ concentration enhanced flocculation capability, reducing suspended solid concentration 20 times lower than the initial dosed concentration. However, humic substances, adsorbed on colloidal particles, reduced flocculation, because they blocked EPS adsorption on colloidal particles and increased negative charges and electrostatic repulsion of colloidal particles. Suspended solid concentration in the tests with humic substances remained as high as the initial dosed concentration, indicating stabilization rather than flocculation. Findings about EPS-mediated flocculation in this research will be used for better understanding the fate and transport of colloidal particles in the water environment and for developing the best management practices for water/sediment quality.
Kim, Ji Hong;Lee, Don Koo;Kim, Zin-Suh;Lee, Kyung Joon;Hyun, Jung Oh;Hwang, Jae Woo;Kwon, Ki Won
Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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v.82
no.3
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pp.235-245
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1993
This study was carried out to understand the stand structure based on the compositional characteristics of natural deciduous forest dominated by Quercus species, which will provide with fundamental ecological and silvicultural information for effective forest management. Of two tracts selected from the Seoul National University Research Forests, one is located in Kwangju-Gun Kyunggi-Do, and the other in Kwangyang-Gun Chollanam-Do. Point-quarter sampling method w-as employed to survey woody vegetation confined to larger than 6cm in DBH. The numbers of sample points were 152 and 187, in Kwangju-Gun and Kwangyang-Gun, respectively. Comparative analysis for two forest tracts was made as follows ; 1) species composition by calculation of importance values ; 2) number of stems per hectare for major tree species ; 3) species diversity for the forests in two locations ; 4) inter-species association based on $X^2$ test. The relative dominate of Quercus speices showed 88% at Kwangju-Gun, Kyunggi-Do and 50% at Kwangy-ang-Gun. Chollanam-Do. Such high dominance occurred due to high importance values of Quercus variahilis and Q. mortgolica in both locations. Quercus serrata showed low value at Kwangju-Gun. Kyunggi-Do whereas Q. acutissirna, Q. dentata and Q. aliena did none at Kwangyang-Gun. Chollanam-Do. The species diversity and evenness in oak communities exhibited 0.82 and 0.61, respectively at Kwangju-Gun. Kyunggi-Do, while those did 1.09 and 0.73 at Kwangyang-Gun, Chollanam-Do. Therefore, it was considered that Ku-angju-Gun region was disturbed severely by human activities but Kwangyang-Gun region eras less disturbed. Frequent appearance of Carpinus and Acer species indicates increase in diversities and better development of succession at Kwangyang-Gun region.
In this paper, we analyse empirically the fixed asset investment smoothing of working capital of firms listed on Korea Securities Market. The main results of this study can be summarized as follows. Firms will seek to lower long-term cost by smoothing fixed asset investment and maintaining stationary investment with working capital. Working capital is not only an important use of fund, but also a source of liquidity that should be used to smooth fixed asset investment relative to cash flow shocks if firms face financial constraints. Working capital investment is more sensitive than fixed asset investment to cash flow fluctuations. If firms face financial constraints, working capital investment will compete with fixed asset investment for the limited pool of available cash flows. So, fixed asset investment will have negative relationship with working capital investment. However, criticism that the positive correlation between cash flows and fixed asset investment could arise simply because cash flows is proxy variable for investment demand. Finally, controlling for the fixed asset investment smoothing effects of working capital results in a much larger estimate of the long run impact of financial constraints. Financial constraints is measured by dividend payout ratio and market access level. Fazzari et al. (1988), Fazzari and Petersen (1993), and Faulkender et al. (2008) emphasize that low dividend firms or market unaccessible firms are more likely to face financial constraints, and rarely make use of new equity issuing. The results from empirical analysis show that financial constraints can be better explained using 'adjustment cost' concept. Specifically, the results show that financial constraints exist and that in order to measure financial constraint effects more succinctly, fixed asset investment smoothing effects with working capital should be considered.
In this study, we transplanted Chinese (Liaoning Dandong) and Chungnam (Taean) manila clam seeds to Gochang tidal flats in Jeonbuk province, and compared growth, mortality, and condition indices from May 2015 to August 2016. Within 2 months after transplantation, clam mortality of Chungnam and Chinese origin were $6.9{\pm}4.3%$, $16.9{\pm}7.9{\sim}21.0{\pm}6.3%$, respectively. We supposed that higher mortality of Chinese manila clams might be due to higher stress and weakening of physiological functions by air-exposure and unavailability of food intake for 5 days harvesting, transportation, quarantine procedures. Unlike the local clam farmer's opinion based on their field experience, growth of Chungnam clams in shell length and total weight were a little better than Chinese without statistical significant difference (P > 0.05). Condition indices of Chinese clams showed declining tendency after reaching a peak in May 2014, and in June 2015, respectively. Meanwhile, Chungnam clams has reached its peak of condition indices in May 2014 and in April 2015, respectively. From this result, we supposed that there might be at least one month difference in reproduction between the Chinese and Chungnam manila clams during the first-transplanted year. Because the mortality of adult clam have sharply increased from June 2015 (due to high temperature, few rainfall and spawning) in Gochang tidal flat, it would be recommendable that farmers harvest the clams before June when its shell length are larger than 40 mm. In conclusion, we could directly compare the productivity of Chinese and Chungnam manila clam at Gochang tidal flats by field experiment, and these results are also meaningful to manila clam farmers.
Purpose: N-13 ammonia uptake and retention in the myocardium is related to perfusion and metabolism. There are several potential advantages of N-13 ammonia positron emission tomography (PET) to detect myocardial ischemia, such as higher spatial resolution, greater counting efficiencies, and robust attenuation correction. But there are few reports comparing Tc-99m myocardial perfusion single photon emission tomography (MPS) and N-13 ammonia PET. We thus compared adenosine stress N-13 ammonia PET/CT and Tc-99m sestamibi MPS in patients with suspected coronary artery stenosis. Materials and Methods: Seventeen patients (male 13 : $63{\pm}11$ years old) underwent adenosine stress N-13 ammonia PET/CT (Discovery ST, GE), Tc-99m sestamibi MPS (dual head gamma camera, Hawkeye, GE) and coronary angiography within 1 week. N-13 ammonia PET/CT and Tc-99m sestamibi MPS images were assessed with a 20-segment model by visual interpretation and quantitative analysis using automatic quantitative software (Myovation, GE). Results: Both sensitivities and specificities of detecting an individual coronary artery stenosis were higher for N-13 ammonia PET/CT than Tc-99m sestamibi MPS (PET/CT: 91%/89% vs MPS: 65%/82%). N-13 ammonia PET/CT showed reversibility in 52% of segments that were considered non-reversibile by Tc-99m sestamibi MPS. In the 110 myocardial segments supplied by the stenotic coronary artery, N-13 ammonia PET/CT showed higher count densities than Tc-99m MPS on rest study (p < 0.01), and the difference of count density between the stress and the rest studies was also larger on N-13 ammonia PET/CT. Conclusion: Adenosine stress N-13 ammonia PET/CT had higher diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, more reversibility of perfusion defects and greater stress/rest uptake differences than Tc-99m sestamibi MPS. Accordingly, N-13 ammonia PET/CT might offer better assessment of myocardial ischemia and viability.
Cho Han;Yang Yun-Hyoung;Lee Kun-Jong;Cho Yong-Sik;Chun Hye-Kyung;Song Kyung-Bin;Kim Mee-Ree
Food Science and Preservation
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v.12
no.4
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pp.329-335
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2005
Storage quality characteristics of low fat salad dressing with spirulina($0.28\%$) was evaluated. After 2 wks of storage, viscosity decreased according to the prolonged storage time. After 8 wks storage, emulsion stability decreased to $30\%$, which was $25\%$ of freshly made dressing. The fat globule size distribution was not different from that of control until one month of storage, but after 75 days of storage, the fat globule size distribution pattern changed into the increase of larger size($15{\sim}2.0\;{\mu}m$: $11.4\%$ for control, $30.1-32.3\%$ for 75 days of storage). Hunter color of L value decreased, whereas a and b value increased according to the prolonged storage time. TBARS value at 8 wks of storage was increased upto $10\%$ for storage at $5^{\circ}C$ and $15\%$ for storage at $10^{\circ}C$. Antioxidant activity of salad dressing decreased according to the storage temperature and time: $IC_{50}$ values of DPPH radical scavenging activity of 8 wk storage was 157.4 mg/mL at $5^{\circ}C$ and 194.6 mg/mL at $10^{\circ}C$. Total microbial number of salad dressing was increase to 7.9 log(CFU/mL), but E. coli was not detected Based on present condition, low temperature storage was favorable for better quality of spirulina salad dressing.
Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. In lower Human Development Index countries, it has the second highest incidence and mortality among cancer in women. Therefore, better diagnosis and treatment systems are needed. Among them, estrogen receptor alpha ($ER-{\alpha}$) mRNA expression has been analyzed with RT-qPCR since several studies reported that $ER-{\alpha}$ is necessary in the maturation of the uterus and is related to cervical cancer. In this study, $ER-{\alpha}$ quantitative analysis was performed on various lesions and normal tissue samples. Based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, its sensitivity and specificity were 85% and 75%, respectively, showing higher or similar results to those of conventional HPV tests. In addition, its expression level was analyzed with clinical information. With regression analysis, the R square value between the $ER-{\alpha}$ mRNA expression level and menopause status was 0.5041, indicating a strong correlation. This study was performed as part of a pilot study and suggests that $ER-{\alpha}$ is related to carcinogenesis. Future studies will examine other hormones and menopausal factors with a larger sample size.
Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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v.22
no.1
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pp.43-52
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2000
Deodorization characteristics and removal rate of sulfur-containing odor have been investigated in the soil filter reactors packed with montmorillonites (Mont.), rice hulls(Rh.), and thickening-activated sludge(Ts.). And variation of pH and $SO_4{^{2-}}$ with the removal of malodorous sulfur compounds have been investigated together. As compared removal rate of montmorillonites between wet and dry condition for sulfur compounds through batch test, it showed that wet condition was better than dry one; removal ratio, as wet/dry, was $H_2S$ of 1.2 and $CH_3SH$ of 1.9, and decrease of pH and increase of $SO_4{^{2-}}$ concentration in the wet condition also showed to be larger than in dry condition. In continuous test for biological deodorization experiment, removal rate of sulfur compounds in reactor packed with Mont., Rh. and Ts, was more than 98 %, and the variation of static pressure was maintained stably under condition of SV $150h^{-1}$, LV 4.2 mm/sec and SV $200h^{-1}$, LV 5.6 mm/sec, and in reactor packed with Mont. and Rh., $H_2S$ was 76.4 % to 87.2 % and $CH_3SH$ was 87.8 % to 93.3 % under the same condition. From above results, it ascertained that it can obtain the high deodorization efficiency by inoculating thickening-activated sludge in soil filter using montmorillonites.
Yoon, Jun Hyuck;Jeon, Kwon Seok;Song, Ki Seon;Park, Yong Bae;Moon, Yong Sun;Lee, Do Hyung
Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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v.103
no.1
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pp.65-71
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2014
Cacalia firma is a perennial plant in Asteraceae, Parasenecio that distributed in Korea, China, and Japan. As dietary style changes for well-being life, consumer's demand of functional food and organic vegetables is getting increased. This study was conducted to investigate the optimum light conditions of P. firmus in forest farming. One year old seedlings were grown under four different light conditions 10%, 20%, 30%, and 50% of sunlight by shading (equals 50%, 30%, 20%, and 10% relative brightness respectively) and non-treated control under full sunlight. They were analyzed for early growth and physiological response. Seedlings grown under 75% shading showed similar height, root growth, and leaf water content to control. However, their leaf length, width, and total leaf area were increased, which caused increased leaf dry weight and total dry weight. Especially, seedlings under 95% shading showed 40% increase in height and more leaf growth and leaf water content, although they had shorter main root length and root collar diameter than control. In addition specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf area ratio (LAR) were higher than control and indicated that they were statistically significant difference from control. Higher SLA refers thinner leaf thickness, higher LAR means larger leaf area. The results indicate seedlings under 95% shading have higher water content, thinner leaf, and wider lightinterception areas. It is plausible that P. firmus is active in chlorophyll activities and carbon dioxide assimilation at even lower light conditions. These results suggest that the optimum light level of P. firmus for artificial cultivation in forest farming ranges from 75~95% shading (20%-10% of relative brightness). When salability as 'sanchae' (wild edible greens) is considered, P. firmus could be cultivated under 75% shading in forest farming and expected to have better taste and higher yield. We suggest these results as basic data of P. firmus for possible forest farming.
Internet commerce has been growing at a rapid pace for the last decade. Many firms try to reach wider consumer markets by adding the Internet channel to the existing traditional channels. Despite the various benefits of the Internet channel, a significant number of firms failed in managing the new type of channel. Previous studies could not cleary explain these conflicting results associated with the Internet channel. One of the major reasons is most of the previous studies conducted analyses under a specific market condition and claimed that as the impact of Internet channel introduction. Therefore, their results are strongly influenced by the specific market settings. However, firms face various market conditions in the real worlddensity and disutility of using the Internet. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of various market environments on a firm's optimal channel strategy by employing a flexible game theory model. We capture various market conditions with consumer density and disutility of using the Internet.
shows the channel structures analyzed in this study. Before the Internet channel is introduced, a monopoly manufacturer sells its products through an independent physical store. From this structure, the manufacturer could introduce its own Internet channel (MI). The independent physical store could also introduce its own Internet channel and coordinate it with the existing physical store (RI). An independent Internet retailer such as Amazon could enter this market (II). In this case, two types of independent retailers compete with each other. In this model, consumers are uniformly distributed on the two dimensional space. Consumer heterogeneity is captured by a consumer's geographical location (ci) and his disutility of using the Internet channel (${\delta}_{N_i}$).
shows various market conditions captured by the two consumer heterogeneities.
(a) illustrates a market with symmetric consumer distributions. The model captures explicitly the asymmetric distributions of consumer disutility in a market as well. In a market like that is represented in
(c), the average consumer disutility of using an Internet store is relatively smaller than that of using a physical store. For example, this case represents the market in which 1) the product is suitable for Internet transactions (e.g., books) or 2) the level of E-Commerce readiness is high such as in Denmark or Finland. On the other hand, the average consumer disutility when using an Internet store is relatively greater than that of using a physical store in a market like (b). Countries like Ukraine and Bulgaria, or the market for "experience goods" such as shoes, could be examples of this market condition.
summarizes the various scenarios of consumer distributions analyzed in this study. The range for disutility of using the Internet (${\delta}_{N_i}$) is held constant, while the range of consumer distribution (${\chi}_i$) varies from -25 to 25, from -50 to 50, from -100 to 100, from -150 to 150, and from -200 to 200.
summarizes the analysis results. As the average travel cost in a market decreases while the average disutility of Internet use remains the same, average retail price, total quantity sold, physical store profit, monopoly manufacturer profit, and thus, total channel profit increase. On the other hand, the quantity sold through the Internet and the profit of the Internet store decrease with a decreasing average travel cost relative to the average disutility of Internet use. We find that a channel that has an advantage over the other kind of channel serves a larger portion of the market. In a market with a high average travel cost, in which the Internet store has a relative advantage over the physical store, for example, the Internet store becomes a mass-retailer serving a larger portion of the market. This result implies that the Internet becomes a more significant distribution channel in those markets characterized by greater geographical dispersion of buyers, or as consumers become more proficient in Internet usage. The results indicate that the degree of price discrimination also varies depending on the distribution of consumer disutility in a market. The manufacturer in a market in which the average travel cost is higher than the average disutility of using the Internet has a stronger incentive for price discrimination than the manufacturer in a market where the average travel cost is relatively lower. We also find that the manufacturer has a stronger incentive to maintain a high price level when the average travel cost in a market is relatively low. Additionally, the retail competition effect due to Internet channel introduction strengthens as average travel cost in a market decreases. This result indicates that a manufacturer's channel power relative to that of the independent physical retailer becomes stronger with a decreasing average travel cost. This implication is counter-intuitive, because it is widely believed that the negative impact of Internet channel introduction on a competing physical retailer is more significant in a market like Russia, where consumers are more geographically dispersed, than in a market like Hong Kong, that has a condensed geographic distribution of consumers.