• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.591-601
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• 2013

In modern society, we are living indoor at 80 - 90 % or more of the day, therefore most people are exposed to unconscious indoor air pollutants by various causes. When mother and infant, whose level of immunity are weak, are exposed to polluted indoor air, respiratory diseases and atopy can occur by the growth of bacteria. Therefore, appropriate indoor air quality management is important especially at nursery, elementary school and postpartum clinic etc. In this study, we compared the characteristics of the indoor air qualities of primary school facilities and infant facilities. In this study, seasonal effects were investigated. Also the effects of individual activity area were studied for indoor air quality. During summer season(May-August), the air qualities of each 16 elementary school and nursery school were investigated. During winter season(October-december), the air qualities of each 10 elementary school and nursery school were investigated. As a result, during winter season in 10 of 16 nursery school, $CO_2$ concentration exceeded regulation level of 1000 ppm. This resulted from the operation of heating system and poor ventilation. Also the air quality of all parameters during winter season were worse than during summer, maybe due to poor ventilation. Except HCHO, the concentrations of other parameters were higher in nursery school. This seems to result from relatively low individual activity area of nursery school than elementary school. From this research, more strong regulation for ventilation and installation of air purifier should be implemented.

• CELLMED
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.8.1-8.5
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• 2019

Introduction: Psoriasis is a major health concern around the world. Physicians of the Unani system of medicine have been treating psoriasis for centuries. Aim: The purpose of our study was to assess the effect of Majoon Mundi (a semisolid Unani medication intended for oral intake used as blood purifier) and Qairooti Karnab (a Unani medication in paste form intended for topical application used as emollient) in the treatment $na{\ddot{i}}ve$ psoriasis cases and to collect data to warrant further clinical trials. Material and Methods: Psoriasis cases were diagnosed clinically. Data were collected during treatment of five patients of psoriasis treated with the Majoon Mundi (oral intake of 5 gm twice daily with 200 ml of water for 12 weeks) and Qairooti Karnab (topical application on affected sites twice a day for 12 weeks). Patients were treated for 12 weeks. Treatment response was seen with clinical improvement in skin lesions and measurement of Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI Scoring) before and after treatment. Results: Reduced PASI Score was observed in all five patients after 12 weeks of treatment [PASI before and after treatment was (mean${\pm}$SD) $20.7{\pm}4.6$ vs. $3.2{\pm}1.8$; p-value <0.05.]. Clinical improvement was noticed within an average of 4 weeks of treatment. Conclusion: Preliminary findings indicate the potential therapeutic role of Majoon Mundi and Qairooti Karnab in the treatment of psoriasis. Clinical trials based on this Unani pharmacopeial formulation should be conducted to explore the therapeutic potential of this formulation in psoriasis

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.106-113
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• 2023

The supply of microbiological risk-free water is essential to keep food safety and public hygiene. And removal, inactivation, and destruction of microorganisms in drinking water are key for ensuring safety in the food industry. Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) irradiation is an attractive method for efficient disinfection of water without generating toxicity and adversely affecting human health. In this study, the disinfection efficiencies of UV-C irradiation on Shigella flexneri (Gram negative) and Listeria monocytogenes (Gram positive) at various concentrations in drinking water were evaluated using a water purifier. Their morphological and physiological characteristics after UV-C irradiation were observed using fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry combined with live/dead staining. UV-C irradiation (254 nm wavelength, irradiation dose: 40 mJ/cm²) at a water flow velocity of 3.4 L/min showed disinfection ability on both bacteria up to 10⁸ CFU/4 L. And flow cytometric analysis showed different physiological shift between S. flexneri and L. monocytogenes after UV-C irradiation, but no significant shift of morphology in both bacteria. In addition, each bacterium revealed different characteristics with time-course observation after UV-C irradiation: L. monocytogenes dramatically changed its physiological feature and seemed to reach maximum damage at 4 h and then recovered, whereas S. flexneri seemed to gradually die over time. This study revealed that UV-C irradiation of water purifiers is effective in disinfecting microbial contaminants in drinking water and provides basic information on bacterial features/responses after UV-C irradiation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.311-316
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• 2018

As the lives of people have improved, the demand for improved indoor air quality has increased. Various methods are used to remove biological air pollutants, such as UV/photocatalytic devices and ozone generators. However, these methods have disadvantages such as energy consumption, high corrosivity and toxicity. To overcome these disadvantages, an antibacterial copper filter was fabricated and its antimicrobial activity was then tested against two fungi (P. pinophilum, C. globosum) and one bacteria (S. aureus) Moreover, the ability to remove suspended microorganisms was tested step by step from the chamber stage to the air conditioning system. The results revealed 100% antimicrobial activity after 24 hours for the two fungi, while this value was 99.9% after 18 hours for the bacteria. Moreover, the antibacterial activity was higher when the chamber and air purifier were used than was obtained using a general antibacterial HEPA filter. Also, as a filter for system air conditioner, the antibacterial activity was lowered in offices and hospitals. In conclusion, the copper filter was found to have sufficient antibacterial activity for use as an antibacterial filter; however, further research on its preparation methods and materials is warranted.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.86-90
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• 2009

The definition of edible ice is frozen water for the use of food manufacturing, processing, or cooking, as well as for the direct eating. It has been reported that in the process of ice manufacturing and its selling, edible ice is contaminated with some microorganisms, which causes food poisoning and gastroenteritis. It was shown that besides in the edible ice, germ growth caused by various reasons occurred in the mineral water, tap water, water filtering system, and water purifier. With public awareness, in order to examine the sanitary conditions of edible ice in the Northern area of Daegu metropolitan city, 15 places were randomly selected. As a result, 14 places were found to be contaminated with microorganisms. After incubating on the Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) agar plate, 80% of Gram-negative bacilli, 17% of Gram-positive cocci, and 3% of Gram-negative cocci were cultured. Enterobacter cloacae, Chryseomonas luteola, Pantoea spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus or Providencia rettgeri were detected. Gram-positive cocci cultured in BHI agar plate from 5 specimens were identified as Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus xylosus, which is well known bacteria causing strong food poisoning. This present paper raises questions on the importance and awareness of sanitary conditions of edible ice and the identification of pathogenic microorganisms living in the edible ice in relation to their distribution. The examination of sanitary conditions of edible ice in other areas in Daegu seems to be also needed to find out if there are similar cases.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.196-203
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• 1999

To establish the best rice cultivating system in the aspects of environment-loving agriculture, the amounts and patterns of nitrogen leached in the paddy soil were investigated with 7 treatments; Recommendation(R), Farmer's usual practice(FUP), Straw compost+chemical fertilizers reduced(SCF), Fresh straw+recommendation(FSC), Fresh cow manure(FCM), Cow manure compost(CMC), and no fertilization as Control(C). And SCF, FCM and CMC were applied with same amounts of total nitrogen to R. The infiltrated water samples were collected in ceramic porous cups which were buried at 60cm depth from the top. Concentrations of nitrate-N in irrigated water were $1.3mg\;l^{-1}$ on rice transplanting season when nutrients began to elute from paddy soil, and $0.4mg\;l^{-1}$ after breaking off irrigation. But it was $4-6mg\;l^{-1}$ in rice growing period. The maximum concentration of nitrate-N in leachate was not more than $7mg\;l^{-1}$ during rice cultivation. The amounts of nitrogen leached in R, FUP, SCF, FSR, FCM, CMC and C were 59, 63, 25, 41, 24, 27, $17kg\;ha^{-1}y^{-1}$ respectively. Nitrogen leaching was decreased to about 30% by supplement of fresh rice straw(FSC) to R. Furthermore, it was possible to reduce to over 50% of nitrogen leaching by reducing chemical fertilizer application(CF), or by substituting of chemical fertilizers with fresh cow manure(FCM) or cow manure compost(CMC). In added organic fertilizer treatments, the amounts of infiltrated nitrogen were less $13-46kg\;ha^{-1}y^{-1}$ than that of input by irrigation. This experiment showed that nutrients leaching was minimized by substitution of chemical fertilizers with organic fertilizer or by application of straw with chemical fertilizers in rice paddy soil and rice cultivation with suitable fertilizer management can work as a purifier rather than contaminator of water.