• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.44-56
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• 2017

Sustainable development is important because the ultimate objective is efficient development combining the economic, social, and environmental aspects of urban conservation. Despite Korea's rapid urbanization and economic development, the distribution of resources is inefficient, and land-use is not an exception. Land use distribution is difficult, as it requires considering a variety of purposes, whose solutions lie in a multipurpose optimization process. In this study, Yangpyeong-eup, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do, is selected, as the site has ecological balance, is well-preserved, and has the potential to support population increases. Further, we have used the genetic algorithm method, as it helps to evolve solutions for complex spatial problems such as planning and distribution of land use. This study applies change to the way of mutation. With four goals and restrictions of area, spatial objectives, minimizing land use conversion, ecological conservation, maximizing economic profit, restricting area to a specific land use, and setting a fixed area, we developed an optimal planning map. No urban areas at the site needed preservation and the high urban area growth rate coincided with the optimization of purpose and maximization of economic profit. When the minimum point of the fitness score is the convergence point, we found optimization occurred approximately at 1500 generations. The results of this study can support planning at Yangpyeong-eup.ausative relationship between the perception of improving odor regulation and odor acceptance.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.115-126
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to offer primary information for development of Makgeolli adapted to the tastes of Chinese and marketing strategies for promoting consumption of Makgeolli in the Chinese market. This study was intended to investigate the Makgeolli drinking behavior through a survey and the sensory properties and preference of fresh and sterilized Makgeolli through sensory evaluation focusing on the Chinese students in Korea, becoming potential consumers of Makgeolli. The survey was conducted from October 9th to October 30th, 2013, and then 117 copies were adopted for the analyses. The results are as follows. 71.8% of the subjects liked Makgeolli, 56.4% drank 5-6 times a week, and 25.7% drank more than 2 bottles at a time. 61.5% of the subjects had purchasing experience. The routes of collecting information about Makgeolli were acquaintances(66.7%) and media sources(28.2%). In the sensory evaluation, sterilized Makgeolli(BS) that has a fresh odor, sweet and sour taste, cooling sensation, and good aftertaste got the best score in the overall acceptability, and fresh Makgeolli(KD) that has a strong nuruk odor, turbidity, bitter taste, and heavy mouthfeel got the lowest score in the overall acceptability. These results show that sweet, fresh, and refreshing Makgeolli suits Chinese's taste and word of mouth marketing through the expansion of tasting events would promote Makgeolli consumption in the Chinese market.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.249-258
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• 2015

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the correlations between the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) and cytokines among elementary school children in an industrial city, Ulsan, South Korea, and to identify major environmental risk factors associated with AR prevalence. Methods: We conducted a case-control study in June 2009 and February 2010 in order to evaluate the relationship between AR and related cytokines. Data on physician-treated prevalence over the past 12 months and potential risk factors for AR were compiled through a questionnaire from a survey of 339 schoolchildren living in different urban environments. Logistic regression analysis was carried out with propensity score matched data (n=180) to assess the influences of cytokines (IL-13, IL-33, IL-4 and IL-5) on AR prevalence and to determine which environmental factors affected AR. Results: In univariate analysis, the AR prevalence was influenced by family history of AR (mother and siblings), environmental factors (odor condition and irritated symptoms of air pollution), and indoor allergens (D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus). The t-test demonstrated that eosinophils, Immunoglobulin E (IgE), and interleukins (IL-13 and IL-5) were statistically significantly different according to treatment of allergic rhinitis over the preceeding 12 months. The results of the multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a statistically significant association between several factors (such as irritated symptoms of air pollution (OR 4.075, CI 1.735-9.568), IL-13 (OR 0.825, CI 0.734-0.928), odor condition (OR 2.409, CI 0.908-6.389), and AR history of siblings (OR 2.217, CI 0.999-4.921)) and the prevalence of AR was found after adjusting for confounders. Conclusion: These results suggest that AR prevalence is significantly associated with cytokine level, genetic background, and outdoor environmental factors. Although living in a polluted area and genetic background can contribute to an increased risk of childhood AR, cytokine level should be considered as an important factor in the treatment of AR in the last 12 months.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.13-24
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• 2023

Sewage sludge has been widely used as an organic fertilizer in agriculture. However, sewage sludge can cause serious malodor problems resulting from the decomposition of organic compounds in anaerobic conditions. The malodor of sewage sludge mainly occurs due to a low carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N), high moisture, and low temperature, which are ideal conditions for ammonia emissions. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the reduction of the odor-causing ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) in sewage sludge by co-application of microbes and methanol (MeOH). The physico-chemical properties of the municipal sewage sludge showed that the odor was mainly caused by a higher NH₃-N content (2932.2 mg L^-1). Supplementation with MeOH (20%) as a carbon source in the sewage sludge significantly reduced the NH₃-N up to 34.2% by increasing C/N ratio. Furthermore, the sewage sludge was treated with the NH₃-N reducing and plant growth promoting (PGP) bacteria Stenotrophomonas rhizophila SRCM 116907. The treatment with S. rhizophila SRCM 116907 significantly increased the seedling vigor index of Lolium perenne (10.3%) and Chrysanthemum burbankii (42.4%). The findings demonstrate that supplementing sewage sludge with methanol significantly reduces ammonia emissions, thereby mitigating malodor problems. Overall, the study highlights the potential of using a microbial and methanol approach to improve the quality of sewage sludge as an organic fertilizer and promote sustainable agriculture.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.1213-1219
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• 2010

We evaluated the anti-aging potential and safety of black garlic extract for cosmeceutical ingredient. Black garlic was made by spontaneous fermentation for 40 days at $60{\sim}70^{\circ}C$, 85~95% RH without any additives. The 10% black garlic extract had sweet odor, antioxidant activities and inhibitory activities of skin againg enzymes such as tyrosinase and elastase. The skin safety was performed to evaluate of potential toxicity using the primary irritation test and skin sensitization test. The black garlic extract did not show any adverse reactions such as erythema and edema on intact skin sites at primary irritation test, but on abraded sites, some experimental animals showed very slight erythema. So, the black garlic extract was classified as a practically non-irritating material based on the score 0.23 of primary irritation index. The skin sensitization study was tested by the guinea pig maximization test (GPMT) and Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) with intradermal injection of 10% black garlic extract. The skin sensitization test showed no skin sensitization. The allergic sensitization depends on tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$ (TNF-$\alpha$) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The concentration of IL-6 on challenged tissue of treated with black garlic extract was not significantly different with negative control group (saline treated group). Based on this study, the potential for black garlic as a cosmeceutical ingredient was proven.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.9-19
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• 2013

This research was performed to make functional papers by using the waste of herbal medicine such as Astragalus membranaceus, Angelica acutiloba, and Artemisia capillaris as additives, and to evaluate their physical and optical properties of the manufactured paper. The physical and optical properties were decreased with the increase of the amount of herbal medicine. Of those manufactured papers, the functional paper with Artemisia capillaris showed the dramatic decrease in its physical properties. Adding the herbal medicine waste as additives developed the aesthetic pattern on the surface of the manufactured paper. The paper showing the black pattern on white surface was most favored. Different patterns could be made by changing the size of fibers and the amount of wastes. There was odor emitted from the paper due to the herbal medicine waste, which make the paper to have a potential for the diverse purpose. The herbal medicine waste can be applied to replace weighting agents in the manufacturing process of paper or used for the fuctional additives, resulting in the reduce of the quantity of a pulp consumed. The paper with 10-20% Angelica acutiloba waste were thought to have the most excellent quality on the process point of view.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1114-1119
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• 2004

The biofilms on pipe walls in water distribution systems are of interest since they can lead to chlorine demand, coliform growth, pipe corrosion, and water taste and odor problems. As such, the study described in this paper is part of an AWWARF and Tampa Bay Water tailored collaboration project to determine the effect of blending different source waters on the water quality in various distribution systems. The project was based on 18 independent pilot distribution systems (PDS), each being fed by a different water blend (7 finished waters blended in different proportions). The source waters compared were groundwater, surface water, and brackish water, which were treated in a variety of pilot distribution systems, including reverse osmosis (RO) (desalination), both membrane and chemical softening, and ozonation-biological activated carbon (BAC), resulting in a total of 7 different finished waters. The observations from this study consistently demonstrated that unlined ductile iron was more heavily colonized by a biomass than galvanized steel, lined ductile iron, and PVC (in that order) and that the fixed biomass accumulation was more influenced by the nature of the supporting material than by the water quality (including the secondary residual levels). However, although the bulk liquid water cultivable bacterial counts (i.e. heterotrophic plate counts or HPCs) did not increase with a greater biofilm accumulation, the results also suggested that high HPCs corresponded to a low disinfectant residual more than a high biofilm inventory. Furthermore, temperature was found to affect the biofilms, plus the AOC was important when the residual was between 0.6 and 2.0 mg $Cl_2/l$. An additional aspect of the current study was that the potential of the exoproteolytic activity (PEPA) technique was used along with a traditional so-called destructive technique in which the biofilm was scrapped off the coupon surface, resuspended, and cultivated on an R2A agar. Both techniques indicated similar trends and relative comparisons among the PDSs, yet the culturable biofilm values for the traditional method were several orders of magnitude lower than the PEPA values.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 1983

The studies on the color improvement of the Doenjang (two types of fermented soybean paste : soybean Doenjang and modified Doenjang) using various Aspergillus oryzae strains (6 strains : A, B, C, D, E, F) were conducted with the series of experiments of enzymatic activities (pretense, $\alpha$-and $\beta$-amylase), browning color formation (Lovibond color), major chemical components (amino nitrogen, reducing sugar and others) and sensory evaluation (color, taste and odor). Aspergillus oryzae 2157 (C strain) had a high potential for the color improvement of Doenjang products and was identified as non-browning strain during Doenjang fermentation and storage period. And also this strain was appeared to be in good enzyme activities and flavor characteristics.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.472-481
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• 2012

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the AD (allergic diseases: asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis) prevalence among elementary schoolchildren in an industrial city, Ulsan, and identify major environmental risk factors associated with AD prevalence. Methods: Data on the physician-diagnosed prevalence over the past 12 months and potential risk factors of AD were collected through a questionnaire from a 2009-2010 survey of 4,067 schoolchildren living in different urban environments. The logistic regression analysis was performed to assess differences in AD prevalence among the areas and to determine which environmental factors impacted AD. Results: Our survey results showed that the AD prevalence rate ranged between 26.2% and 35.9%. Children living in polluted areas (near industrial and central urban areas) had about a 10% higher prevalence of AD than did those living in coastal or suburban residences. The Chi-Square test demonstrated that this local difference was statistically significant before and after adjustment of major confounders such as parental AD history and parental education. The results of the logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant association between several environmental factors (ventilation in winter, odor conditions and exposure to traffic smoke, and outdoor $PM_{10}/O_3$ pollution) and the prevalence of AD found by multivariate model after adjusting confounders. Conclusion: These results suggest that local differences in AD prevalence are significantly associated with outdoor environmental factors. Although there are likely to be other risk factors for AD, living in a polluted area and exposure to high levels of air pollutants can contribute to an increased risk of childhood AD.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.716-729
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• 2015

Small-scale household digesters have been promoted across Asia as a sustainable way of handling manure. The major advantages are that they produce biogas and reduce odor. However their disadvantages include the low recycling of nutrients, because digestate is dilute and therefore difficult to transport, and the loss of biogas as a result of cracks and the intentional release of excess biogas. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used to assess the environmental impacts associated with biogas digesters in Vietnam. Handling 1,000 kg of liquid manure and 100 kg of solid manure in a system with a biogas digester reduced the impact potential from 4.4 kg carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) equivalents to 3.2 kg $CO_2$ equivalents compared with traditional manure management. However, this advantage could easily be compromised if digester construction is considered in the LCA or in situations where there is an excess of biogas which is intentionally released. A sensitivity analysis showed that biogas digesters could be a means of reducing global warming if methane emissions can be kept low. In terms of eutrophication, farms with biogas digesters had 3 to 4 times greater impacts. In order to make biogas digesters sustainable, methods for recycling digestates are urgently required.