• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.10
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• pp.87-94
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• 2020

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of sterilization in Vietnam. We estimate a simultaneous equation by using Two-Stage least squares (2SLS) regression analysis. The time-series data was collected for the first quarter of 2004 to the fourth quarter of 2018. In particular, the effectiveness of sterilization is considered in terms of dollarized economy, since making the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy system, the Vietnamese economy has remained in a state of dollarization. In addition, we also assess whether the global financial crisis had an impact on the sterilization effectiveness of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). On the basis of the estimated sterilization and offset coefficients, our results suggest that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has not been able to fully neutralize the impact on the domestic money supply when intervening in the foreign exchange market, and the capital inflows respond strongly to changes in domestic monetary conditions. The results also show that the global financial crisis has changed the effectiveness of these sterilization policies. An analysis of this study's empirical findings provides the opportunity to derive some recommendations that may assist in increasing the effectiveness of the State Bank of Vietnam's sterilization policies in the process of accumulating international reserves.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2021

Objectives: Non-traditional materials are used for mask construction to address personal protective equipment shortages during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Reusable masks made from surgical sterilization wrap represent such an innovative approach with social media frequently referring to them as "N95 alternatives." This material was tested for particle filtration efficiency and breathability to clarify what role they might have in infection prevention and control. Methods: A heavyweight, double layer sterilization wrap was tested when new and after 2, 4, 6, and 10 autoclave sterilizing cycles and compared with an approved N95 respirator and a surgical mask via testing procedures using a sodium chloride aerosol for N95 efficiency testing similar to 42 CFR 84.181. Pressure testing to indicate breathability was also conducted. Results: The particle filtration efficiency for the sterilization wrap ranged between 58% to 66%, with similar performance when new and after sterilizing cycles. The N95 respirator and surgical mask performed at 95% and 68% respectively. Pressure drops for the sterilization wrap, N95 and surgical mask were 10.4 mmH2O, 5.9 mmH2O, and 5.1 mmH2O, respectively, well below the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health limits of 35 mmH2O during initial inhalation and 25 mmH2O during initial exhalation. Conclusions: The sterilization wrap's particle filtration efficiency is much lower than a N95 respirator, but falls within the range of a surgical mask, with acceptable breathability. Performance testing of non-traditional mask materials is crucial to determine potential protection efficacy and for correcting misinterpretation propagated through popular media.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.386-391
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• 2014

Atmospheric-pressure nonthermal corona discharge plasma was applied to the sterilization of biologically contaminated scoria powder. Escherichia coli (E. coli) culture solution was uniformly sprayed throughout the scoria powder for artificial inoculation, which was well mixed to ensure uniformity of the batch. The effect of the key parameters such as discharge power, treatment time, type of gas and electrode distance on the sterilization efficiency was examined and discussed. The experimental results revealed that the plasma treatment was very effective for the sterilization of scoria powder; 5-min treatment at 15 W could sterilize more than 99.9% of E. coli inoculated into the scoria powder. Increasing the discharge power, treatment time or applied voltage led to an improvement in the sterilization efficiency. The effect of type of gas on the sterilization efficiency was in order of oxygen, synthetic air (20% oxygen) and nitrogen from high to low. The inactivation of E. coli under the influence of corona discharge plasma can be explained by cell membrane erosion or etching resulting from UV and reactive oxidizing species (oxygen radical, OH radical, ozone, etc.), and the destruction of E. coli cell membrane by the physical action of numerous corona streamers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.138-146
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• 2021

Objectives: This study aims to compare and evaluate the reduction efficiency of disinfectants used in the domestic meat processing industry to reduce bioaerosol exposure of meat industry workers and to use this as basic data for establishing work environment management measures. Methods: Thirteen disinfectants sold in South Korea were selected for evaluation and the bacterial reduction effect of the disinfectants was investigated. Bacterial suspension and surface disinfection tests were conducted to compare and analyze the antibacterial strength of the disinfectants. Pork carcasses, cutting boards, benches, and conveyor belts were selected for surface sterilization tests. Results: As a result of the bacterial suspension experiment test, all disinfectants had a bacterial reduction efficiency of more than 86%. Among them, the bacterial reduction efficiency of chlorine disinfectants was 99.93% on average. In the results of the pork carcass surface sterilization test, the rate of reduction of disinfectants made of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) was the highest. Tests of plastic cutting boards showed that chlorine disinfectants had the best sterilization effect. Experiments on stainless steel benches showed the best bacterial reduction efficiency for chlorine dioxide and QACs disinfectants. In the conveyor belt made of urethane, QACs disinfectants showed excellent sterilization effects. Conclusions: The study evaluated the disinfection power of disinfectants against bacteria occurring in domestic meat processing plants. All disinfectants were found to be effective in bacterial suspension experiments, and chlorine disinfectants were particularly effective. In surface sterilization experiments, sterilizing agents with QACs as the main ingredient were excellent.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.559-565
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• 2009

In this paper, we invented a new and unique technique for the sterilization of Escherichia coli(E. coli) in polluted water. We applied a rich ultra-violet(UV) light from pulsed xenon flashlamp and photocatalyst(TiO2) to sterilize E. coli in polluted water. This method based on the use of UV light and photocatalyst is eco-friendly and does not cause secondary pollution. The proposed elliptical reactor is able to concentrate on quartz sleeve coated TiO2 or general quartz sleeve. The primary objective of our research was to determine the important parameters such as pulse repetition rate and input voltage and to know on the sterilizing efficiency of quartz sleeve coated TiO2 and general quartz sleeve. We obtained to achieve 99.999% sterilization in as little as 6 pulses at 800V in case of quartz sleeve coated Ti02, and 10 pulses at 800V in case of general quartz sleeve for 5 minutes. Although transmitted light of quartz sleeve coated TiO2 is deceased, the sterilizing efficiency is increased by 40% than general quartz sleeve. The reason of high sterilizing efficiency is that generated hydroxyl radical(OH) by photocatalyst and is able to concentrate light at a focus by using elliptical reactor.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.99-103
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• 2002

The suitable sterilization conditions in pot cultivation of varieties of Chunchunutari-2-ho and Suhannutari-1-ho Pleurotus ostreatus were investigated. The substrate formulations for the cultivation consisted of 40% poplar sawdust, 40% waste cotton and 20% beet pulp (PWB), and 40% poplar sawdust, 40% cotton seed hull and 20% beet pulp (PCB). The increase in the sterilization temperature caused decrease in the pH of the substrate. The moisture content of PWB substrate increased by 1.8%, but that of PCB substrate decreased by 4.1 % after low temperature sterilization ($12hr\;at\;60^{\circ}C$). However, a little change in the sterilization at higher temperature ($6hr\;at\;100^{\circ}C\;and\;90min\;at\;121^{\circ}C$) did not alter the moisture content of both substrate appreciably. The duration of mycelial growth was longest and its density was lowest in low temperature sterilization ($12hr\;at\;60^{\circ}C$). The high pressure sterilization ($90min\;at\;121^{\circ}C$) of PCB substrate produced high yield (236.6 g/pot) and the highest biological efficiency (96.6%) for Chunchunutari-2-ho. On the contrary the high temperatures sterilization ($6hr\;at\;100^{\circ}C$) of PCB substrate resulted in the yield of 259.1 g/pot with the biological efficiency 94.9% for Suhannutari-2-ho.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.164-167
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• 2017

Biological efficiency (BE), the ratio of fresh mushrooms harvested per dry substrate weight, expressed as the percentage of Lentinula edodes, also known as shiitake, was determined using the 'Sanjo 701' strain stored in the Department of Mushroom at the Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries. The mycelia were grown in glass columns with varying levels of moisture content and varying mixing periods of 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 hours. The substrate was sterilized using a steam pressure autoclave sterilizer at normal and high pressure to avoid contamination. The results showed that mycelial growth (126 mm/15 days) was optimized at 55% moisture content. The best mycelial growth of 117 mm/15 days was obtained with 2 hours of mixing time. Normal pressure sterilization yielded better results with mycelial growth of 96 mm/15 days at $100^{\circ}C$ compared to 88 mm /15 days with sterilization at $121^{\circ}C$. Mycelial density was higher, i.e. 3(+++), with normal pressure sterilization compared to 2(++) with high pressure sterilization. Furthermore, sawdust mixed with 5% woodchips increased the substrate porosity and yielded higher mycelial growth. Thus, we demonstrated that the optimum harvest or potential increased yield of shiitake can be obtained by modulating moisture content, mixing time, and substrate porosity.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.15-20
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• 2014

Recently, LED (Light Emitting Diode) application research is studying by using a specific wavelength. LED plant factory produced a lot of green plants in a closed spaces, so it should be taken to guard against harmful microbes. Until today, a lot of studies for green plant production in plant factory is proceed but there were no study on harmful microbes in plant factory. Thus, the analysis on sterilization for harmful microbes in plant factory were experimented using UV (Ultra Violet) LED with 282nm of wavelength. As a results on sterilization of three harmful microbes, 50% of sterilization efficiency was achieved after 2.5 hours, 97% was achieved after 12 hours of UV LED irradiation, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.622-633
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• 2024

For quality standardization, the application of functional lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as starter cultures for food fermentation is a well-known method in the fermented food industry. This study assessed the effect of adding a non-thermally microbial inactivated starter culture to kimchi, a traditional Korean food, in standardizing its quality. In this study, pretreatment based on sterilization processes, namely, slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) disinfection and ultraviolet C light-emitting diode (UVC-LED) of raw and subsidiary kimchi materials were used to reduce the initial microorganisms in them, thereby increasing the efficiency and value of the kimchi LAB starter during fermentation. Pretreatment sterilization effectively suppressed microorganisms that threatened the sanitary value and quality of kimchi. In addition, pretreatment based on sterilization effectively reduced the number of initial microbial colonies in kimchi, creating an environment in which kimchi LAB starters could settle or dominate, compared to non-sterilized kimchi. These differences in the initial microbial composition following the sterilization process and the addition of kimchi LAB starters led to differences in the metabolites that positively affect the taste and flavor of kimchi. The combined processing technology used in our study, that is, pre-sterilization and LAB addition, may be a powerful approach for kimchi quality standardization.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.541-548
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• 2014

The pickling brine generated from the salting process of kimchi production is difficult to treat biologically due to very high content of salt. When pickling brine is treated and discharged, it cannot satisfy the criteria for effluent water quality in clean areas, while resources such as the salt to be recycled and the industrial water are wasted. However, sterilization by ozone, UV and photocatalyst is expensive installation costs and operating costs when considering the small kimchi manufacturers. Therefore there is a need to develop economical process. The study was conducted on the sterilization efficiency of the pickling brine using electrochemical processing. The electrochemical treatment of organic matters has advantages over conventional methods such as active carbon absorption process, chemical oxidation, and biological treatment because the response speed is faster and it does not require expensive, harmful oxidizing agents. This study were performed to examine the possibility of electrochemical treatment for the efficient processing of pickling brine and evaluated the performance of residual chlorine for the microbial sterilization.