• Title/Summary/Keyword: critical region

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Characterisation of fungal contamination sources for use in quality management of cheese production farms in Korea

  • Kandasamy, Sujatha;Park, Won Seo;Yoo, Jayeon;Yun, Jeonghee;Kang, Han Byul;Seol, Kuk-Hwan;Oh, Mi-Hwa;Ham, Jun Sang
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.33 no.6
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    • pp.1002-1011
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    • 2020
  • Objective: This study was conducted to determine the composition and diversity of the fungal flora at various control points in cheese ripening rooms of 10 dairy farms from six different provinces in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Floor, wall, cheese board, room air, cheese rind and core were sampled from cheese ripening rooms of ten different dairy farms. The molds were enumerated using YM petrifilm, while isolation was done on yeast extract glucose chloramphenicol agar plates. Morphologically distinct isolates were identified using sequencing of internal transcribed spacer region. Results: The fungal counts in 8 out of 10 dairy farms were out of acceptable range, as per hazard analysis critical control point regulation. A total of 986 fungal isolates identified and assigned to the phyla Ascomycota (14 genera) and Basidiomycota (3 genera). Of these Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Cladosporium were the most diverse and predominant. The cheese ripening rooms was overrepresented in 9 farms by Penicillium (76%), while Aspergillus in a single farm. Among 39 species, the prominent members were Penicillium commune, P. oxalicum, P. echinulatum, and Aspergillus versicolor. Most of the mold species detected on surfaces were the same found in the indoor air of cheese ripening rooms. Conclusion: The environment of cheese ripening rooms persuades a favourable niche for mold growth. The fungal diversity in the dairy farms were greatly influenced by several factors (exterior atmosphere, working personnel etc.,) and their proportion varied from one to another. Proper management of hygienic and production practices and air filtration system would be effective to eradicate contamination in cheese processing industries.

China's Military Rise and Regional Maritime Security - Its Neighbors' Strategic Calculations and Various Contingencies - (중국의 군사적 부상과 역내 해양안보 - 주변국의 전략적 대비 및 유사를 중심으로 -)

  • Kim, Taeho
    • Strategy21
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    • s.33
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    • pp.113-147
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    • 2014
  • While China's military rise is an issue of growing importance to regional security, it is worthwhile to note that it is not China's military modernization per se, but its capacity to project and sustain power along and beyond its borders--in particular, the possibility to resolve forcefully its outstanding maritime disputes and various contingencies. This essay argues that China's "anti-access capability"--a U.S.-coined term originally developed for a Taiwan contingency--is equally applicable to other major regional cases such as the Spratly disputes and a North Korean contingency. Furthermore, notwithstanding China's continuos efforts to develop and deploy various types and classes of weapons/platforms, it is the Russian systems and technologies that are most capable and thus likely assigned to the highest mission-critical areas. In assessing China's current and likely future military capability as well as their implications for the region, it is necessary to take note of the following: • There exists asymmetry of military capability between China and its weaker neighbors. While the PLAN is weak in several important aspects, for instance, many of its neighbors' navies are weaker still. • Some have argued that China's foreign policy behavior apparently became more "assertive" in 2009-2013, but it is wiser to keep in mind that China has almost always been assertive and aggressive when it comes to what China defines as "sovereignty and territorial issues" as well as its newest "core interests." • On the South China Sea disputes it is the function of U.S. presence in the theater--in the form of overseas bases and the freedom of navigation--and the PLA's own limitations to project and sustain power for an extended period of time that have largely prevented armed. • While Taiwan remains the idee fixe of China's diplomacy and military, it is and will be a tough nut to crack. China's recent creeping attempts for economic integration with Taiwan should be seen in this context. • China and Japan, the two regional heavyweights and traditional rivals, will likely have a bilateral relationship that is replete with difficulties and tension. China's unilateral announcement of its ADIZ in November 2013 as well as the occasional yet persistent disputes with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyudao/Diaoyutai islands are only the latest manifestation of this deeper and difficult relationship. • For Korean security it is imperative to take into account the geostrategic and historical factors. On top of the existing military threats from North Korea, the ROK should be able to employ a) hedging strategy, b) "limited defense sufficiency" strategy, and c) rock-solid relations with the United States.

The Use of National Names for International Bodies of Water: Critical Perspective (공해(公海)에 대한 국가지명 사용: 비판적 관점)

  • 알렉산더B.머피
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.34 no.5
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    • pp.507-516
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    • 1999
  • More than twenty-five major international bodies of water bear the names of particular nations or states. Many of these are not names are widely accepted, but considerable disagreement has developed in some cases. A systematic examination of the level of conflict over the use of national names for international bodies of water indicates that conflict is most likely to develop where shifting power relations among interested states produce concern about the hegemonic ambitions of the state after which the body of water is named. This is the case in the three situations where considerable contention exists over the use of a national name for an international body of water: the Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea, the Sea of Japan/East Sea, and the South China SealBien Dong. Cases evidencing little contention are those where either no state has a significant interest in the naming issue, or where the name that is attached to the body of water is that of a state that has not been a historic threat to others in the region. Naming international bodies of water after nations or states is potentially problematic because such appellations can connote ownership or control by a single people or political entity. An understanding of the controversies surrounding these place names requires consideration of the geopolitical context in which they are embedded.

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Regulation of GFP Expression Using the Tetracycline Inducible Retroviral Vector System (Tetracycline Inducible Retrovirus Vector System에 의한 GFP 유전자의 발현 조절)

  • Koo Bon Chul;Kwon Mo Sun;Kim Teoan
    • Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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    • v.29 no.1
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    • pp.57-62
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    • 2005
  • One of the critical problems to be solved in transgenic animal production is uncontrollable constitutive expression of foreign genes, which usually results in serious physiological disturbances in the transgenic animal. To circumvent this problem, we constructed and tested two retrovirus vectors designed to express the GFP(green fluorescent protein) gene under the control of the tetracycline-inducible promoters. To maximize the GFP gene expression at turn-on state, WPRE(woodchuck hepatitis virus posttranscriptional regulatory element) sequence was introduced into the retrovirus vectors at downstream region of either the GFP gene or the sequence encoding rtTA(reverse tetracycline-controlled transactivator). Transformed cells were cultured in the medium supplemented with or without doxycycline(tetracycline derivative) for 48 hours, and induction efficiency was measured by comparing the GFP gene expression level using fluorometry and western blotting. Higher GFP expression was observed from the vector carrying the WPRE sequence at 3' side of the GFP gene, while tighter expression control(up to 20 fold) was obtained from the vector in which the WPRE sequence was placed at 3' side of rtTA sequence. The resulting tetracycline inducible vector system may be used in transgenic animal production and gene therapy.

Interaction Effects of Lipoprotein Lipase Polymorphisms with Lifestyle on Lipid Levels in a Korean Population: A Cross-sectional Study

  • Pyun, Jung-A;Kim, Sun-Shin;Park, Kyung-Chae;Baik, In-Kyung;Cho, Nam-H.;Koh, In-Song;Lee, Jong-Young;Cho, Yoon-Shin;Kim, Young-Jin;Go, Min-Jin;Shim, Eu-Gene;Kwack, Kyu-Bum;Shin, Chol
    • Genomics & Informatics
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.88-98
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    • 2012
  • Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) plays an essential role in the regulation of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) and triglyceride levels, which have been closely associated with cardiovascular diseases. Genetic studies in European have shown that LPL single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are strongly associated with lipid levels. However, studies about the influence of interactions between LPL SNPs and lifestyle factors have not been sufficiently performed. Here, we examine if LPL polymorphisms, as well as their interaction with lifestyle factors, influence lipid concentrations in a Korean population. A two-stage association study was performed using genotype data for SNPs on the LPL gene, including the 3' flanking region from 7,536 (stage 1) and 3,703 (stage 2) individuals. The association study showed that 15 SNPs and 4 haplotypes were strongly associated with HDLC (lowest $p=2.86{\times}10^{-22}$) and triglyceride levels (lowest $p=3.0{\times}10^{-15}$). Interactions between LPL polymorphisms and lifestyle factors (lowest $p=9.6{\times}10^{-4}$) were also observed on lipid concentrations. These findings suggest that there are interaction effects of LPL polymorphisms with lifestyle variables, including energy intake, fat intake, smoking, and alcohol consumption, as well as effects of LPL polymorphisms themselves, on lipid concentrations in a Korean population.

A GIS-based Analysis of Spatial Patterns of Individual Accessibility: A Critical Examination of Spatial Accessibility Measures (GIS를 이용한 접근성의 공간적 패턴 분석: 공간적 접근성 측정방법에 대한 비판적 검토)

  • Kim Hyun-Mi
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.40 no.5 s.110
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    • pp.514-532
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    • 2005
  • The purpose of this study is to critically examine conventional spatial measures of individual accessibility, which are based on the notion of spatial proximity, the single reference location, and the unlinked travel model. Using space-time accessibility measures with the travel-activity diary data set of Portland Metro, US, three expectations from spatial measures on spatial patterns of individual accessibility were empirically examined: (1) does individual accessibility decrease with an increase of distance from the CBD?; (2) does the spatial pattern of accessibility resemble that of urban opportunity density pattern?; and (3) are spatial patterns of individual accessibility of different socio- demographic population groups basically similar as people in the same area share the same geographic characteristics regardless of gender, race, age, and so on? First of all, the results showed that spatial variations in individual accessibility were not directly determined by spatial proximity and opportunity density as suggested by previous accessibility measures. The spatial pattern of individual accessibility was dramatically different from that of urban opportunity density High peaks of accessibility level were found far away from the CBD and regional centers. This finding might be associated with the importance of multi-reference locations and linked travels in shaping accessibility in reality. Furthermore, this study found that spatial patterns of accessibility clearly differ between men and women. These findings suggest that access requires more than proximity, and that the interaction between person-specific space-time constraints and the consequential availability of urban opportunities in space-time renders different accessibility experiences to people even in the same region, which would be one of the key ingredients missing from conventional spatial measures of accessibility.

Case Analysis on High Concentration of SO2 and Review on Its Reduction Policy in the Ulsan Metropolitan Area since 2001 (울산 지역에서 2001년 이후 이산화황(SO2)의 고농도 사례 분석과 저감 정책 방안의 검토)

  • Moon, Yun-Seob
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.423-437
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    • 2008
  • Until comparatively lately, the annual time series of the $SO_2$ concentration had been shown in a decreasing trend in Ulsan as well as other Korean cities. However, the high concentration of $SO_2$ was frequently found in the specific countermeasure region including the national industrial complex such as Mipo and Onsan in the Ulsan city for the period of $2001{\sim}2004$. There are many conditions that can influence the high concentration of $SO_2$ at monitoring sites in Ulsan, such as: First, annual usage of the fuel including sulfur increased in comparison with the year before in spite of the fuel conversion policy which wants to use low sulfur oil less than 3% and LNG. Second, point source, such as the power plants and the petroleum and chemistry stacks, was the biggest contributor in $SO_2$ emission, as a analyzed result of both the air quality modeling and the stack tole-monitoring system (TMS) data. And third, the air pollutants that occurred in processes of homing and manufacturing of the fuel including sulfur were transported slow into a special monitoring site by accumulating along the frontal area of see-breeze. It was concluded that Ulsan's current environmental policy together with control methods should be changed into the regulation on total amount of emission, including a market-based emission trading with calculating of atmospheric environmental critical loads, for the $SO_2$ reduction like the specific countermeasure for the $O_3$ and PM10 reduction in the Seoul metropolitan area. And this change should be started in the big point sources of $1{\sim}3$ species because they are big contributors of Ulsan's $SO_2$ pollution. Especially it is necessary to revitalize of the self-regulation environmental management. Other control methods for sustaining the $SO_2$ reduction are as follows: maintenance of the fuel conversion policy, reinforcement of the regional stationary source emission standard, and enlargement of the stack TMS.

Development of a Dynamic Ingestion Pathways Model(KORFOOD), Applicable to Korean Environment (한국 환경에 적용 가능한 동적 섭식경로 모델 (KORFOOD) 개발)

  • Hwang, Won-Tae;Kim, Byung-Woo;Lee, Kun-Jai
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.9-24
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    • 1993
  • The time-dependent radioecological model applicable to Korean environment has been developed in order to assess the radiological consequences following the short-term deposition of radionuclides in an accident of nuclear power plant. Time-dependent radioactivity concentrations in foodstuffs can be estimated by the model called 'KORFOOD' as well as time-dependent and time-integrated ingestion doses. Three kinds of critical radionuclides and thirteen kinds of foodstuffs were considered in this model. Dynamic variation of radioactivities were simulated by considering several effects such as deposition, weathering and washout, resuspension, root uptake, translocation, leaching, senescence, intake and excretion of soil by animals, intake and excretion of feedstuffs by animals, etc. The input data to the KORFOOD are the time of the year when the deposition occurs, the kinds of radionuclides and foodstuffs for estimation. The time-dependent specific activities in rice and the ingestion doses due to the consumption of all considered foodstuffs were calculated with deposition time using agricultural data-base in Kori region. In order to validate results of KORFOOD, the calculated results were compared with those by a leading German model, ECOSYS-87. The comparison of results shows good agreements within a factor of ten.

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Flow Measurement and Characteristic Analysis in the Effluent Regions of the Samcheonpo Thermal Power Plant(TPP) (삼천포 화력발전소 방류수로 및 방류해역의 흐름 관측 및 특성분석)

  • Cho, Hong-Yeon;Jeong, Shin-Taek;Kang, Keum-Seok
    • Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.329-337
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    • 2006
  • A small hydro-power plant operated by cooling water discharged from the power plant is under construction. In this study, the flow characteristics of the effluent channel and the outfall coastal zone in which the facilities are constructed have been measured and analysed. The flow pattern is highly dependent on the effluent discharge and clearly classified as these typical areas; the upstream and downstream areas of the weir, and the outfall coastal zone. The discharge and the width of the channel in the upstream area of the weir are increased step by step, so the water level fluctuation is small. The flow overtopping the weir is rapidly changing and has highly vertical fluctuation patterns after hydraulic jump just below the weir. The flow pattern in the outfall zone is directed toward the seaward direction and the velocity is dominated by the tidal level fluctuation. The mean tidal range in this area is about 10% greater than that of the Tongyeong tidal gauging station and the wave effects are negligible because of the sheltering effects of this area.

Adsorption Characteristics on Organic Solvents Diluted in Supercritical Carbondioxide Measured by Chromatography and IR Spectroscopy (적외분광법과 크로마토 측정기법을 이용한 초임계 이산화탄소 중에 희석시킨 유기용매의 흡착특성)

  • Jin, Do-Won;Kim, Young-Il;Park, Dong-Won
    • Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.76-81
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    • 1998
  • Physical adsorption on a silica gel(pore size of 80 nm, particle size of $10{\mu}m$)has been studied for binary mixture of acetone diluted in $CO_2$ by use of a FTIR transmission technique and we have compared the result of FTIR transmission technique with that of a chromatographic technique. Measurements were made at 313.2 K and under pressures up to 15MPa. As the pressure increases from 0.1MPa, the IA(Integral Absorbance) of the hydrogen-bonded OH groups interacting with acetone and adsorbed amount by use of a chromatographic technique increases at first, and reaches a maximum at a pressure below the critical pressure of $CO_2$, and then the intensities decrease gradually with increasing pressure. It is found that the pressure dependency of the chromatographic isotherm is a little larger than that of spectroscopic isotherm in the supercritical fluid region. This difference might be attributable to the weaker van der Waals force and relatively stronger hydrogen-bonding force influencing the adsorption of acetone on the sllica gel. The unique spectroscopic characteristics of amine group which vibrational frequencies of hydroxyl groups on the silica gel surface shift downward to about $1300cm^{-1}$ were measured from experimental result of triethylamine diluted in $CO_2$ or $N_2$.

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