• Title/Summary/Keyword: quality attributes

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Spatial Physicochemical and Metagenomic Analysis of Desert Environment

  • Sivakala, Kunjukrishnan Kamalakshi;Jose, Polpass Arul;Anandham, Rangasamy;Thinesh, Thangathurai;Jebakumar, Solomon Robinson David;Samaddar, Sandipan;Chatterjee, Poulami;Sivakumar, Natesan;Sa, Tongmin
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.28 no.9
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    • pp.1517-1526
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    • 2018
  • Investigating bacterial diversity and its metabolic capabilities is crucial for interpreting the ecological patterns in a desert environment and assessing the presence of exploitable microbial resources. In this study, we evaluated the spatial heterogeneity of physicochemical parameters, soil bacterial diversity and metabolic adaptation at meter scale. Soil samples were collected from two quadrats of a desert (Thar Desert, India) with a hot, arid climate, very little rainfall and extreme temperatures. Analysis of physico-chemical parameters and subsequent variance analysis (p-values < 0.05) revealed that sulfate, potassium and magnesium ions were the most variable between the quadrats. Microbial diversity of the two quadrats was studied using Illumina bar-coded sequencing by targeting V3-V4 regions of 16S rDNA. As for the results, 702504 high-quality sequence reads, assigned to 173 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at species level, were examined. The most abundant phyla in both quadrats were Actinobacteria (38.72%), Proteobacteria (32.94%), and Acidobacteria (9.24%). At genus level, Gaiella represented highest prevalence, followed by Streptomyces, Solirubrobacter, Aciditerrimonas, Geminicoccus, Geodermatophilus, Microvirga, and Rubrobacter. Between the quadrats, significant difference (p-values < 0.05) was found in the abundance of Aciditerrimonas, Geodermatophilus, Geminicoccus, Ilumatobacter, Marmoricola, Nakamurella, and Solirubrobacter. Metabolic functional mapping revealed diverse biological activities, and was significantly correlated with physicochemical parameters. The results revealed spatial variation of ions, microbial abundance and functional attributes in the studied quadrats, and patchy nature in local scale. Interestingly, abundance of the biotechnologically important phylum Actinobacteria, with large proposition of unclassified species in the desert, suggested that this arid environment is a promising site for bioprospection.

Market Opportunities and Constraints Confronting Resource-Poor Pig Farmers in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province

  • Madzimure, James;Bovula, Ntombizodwa;Ngorora, Grace P.K.;Tada, Obert;Kagande, Shelton M.;Bakare, Archibold G.;Chimonyo, Michael
    • The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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    • v.5 no.2
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    • pp.29-35
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    • 2014
  • Purpose - The study aimed to evaluate the market opportunities and constraints confronting resource-poor pig farmers in South Africa. Research design, data, and methodology - Information was collected from 292 households in three municipalities through interviews with key informants. The data collected included socio-economic characteristics, major market channels, prices for different pig classes, average weight of the pigs on sale, number of pigs sold annually, and preferred meat quality attributes. Results - In Ngqushwa, 96% of respondents sold pigs as compared to Elundini (81%) and Ntabankulu (65%). Less resource-poor households and those with market-oriented production had large herdsizes (P < 0.05) when compared to more resource-poor farmers. The probability of selling pigs was high for the backyard production system and educated farmers. For all farmers, opportunities included high pork demand, good prices, employment creation, and a niche market for organically produced indigenous pork. Constraints include disease, feed shortages for large herds, distances to formal markets, lack of training, and drugs. Conclusions - Constraints outnumbered opportunities for the resource-poor pig farmers.

Detection and Prediction of Alternative Splicing with One-leaf One-node Tree (One-leaf One-node 트리를 이용한 선택 스플라이싱 탐지 및 예측)

  • Park, Min-Seo
    • The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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    • v.10 no.10
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    • pp.102-110
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    • 2010
  • Alternative splicing is an important process in gene expression. Alternative Splicing can lead to mutations and diseases. Most studies detect alternatively spliced genes with ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags). However, reliance on ESTs might have some weaknesses in predicting alternative splicing. ESTs have been stored in the libraries. The EST libraries are often not clearly organized and annotated. We can pick erroneous ESTs. It is also difficult to predict whether or not alternative splicing exists for those genes where ESTs are not available. To address these issues and to improve the quality of detection and prediction for alternative splicing, we propose the One-leaf One-node Tree Algorithm that uses pre-mRNAs. It is achieved by codons, three nucleotides, as attributes for each chromosome in Arabidopsis thaliana. The proposed decision tree shows that alternative and normal splicing have different splicing patterns according to triplet nucleotides in each chromosome. Based on the patterns, alternative splicing of unlabeled genes can also be predicted.

Socially Sustainable Design Characteristics of Yerba Buena Garden in San Francisco (샌프란시스코 Yerba Buena Garden의 사회적 지속가능디자인 특성)

  • Lee, Yeunsook;Yoon, Hyegyung
    • KIEAE Journal
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    • v.8 no.3
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    • pp.61-68
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    • 2008
  • The development of urbanization in the twentieth century according to the rampant growth of industrialization not only brought about the improvement of life-quality but also induced us to reconsider the contemporary issues such as crisis of echo system which made us aware of the values and significance of the system and sustainable environments. As sustainability has been recognized as the holistic concept, it has been highlighted as one of the core concepts in the studies with the present ecological perspective. Particularly, as the plan of urbanization in Korea which had been based on the deconstruction has been converted into the regeneration, economic and cultural regeneration is also demanded for the future plan besides material regeneration. This study aims to scrutinize various attributes of socially sustainable designs in Yerba Buena Garden of San Francisco, USA which has been globally well known as a successful example of urban regeneration. By way of visit-and-observation of the place, the research for the study was conducted during the month of December, 2007. Three researchers visited Yerba Buena Garden to observe and take photographs and to obtain relevant data and public documents in local public library. Socially sustainable design was measured on the basis of such principles; social facilitation, permeability and accessibility, safely and emotional stability, softness and feminism, and child care convenience. Relevant data were systematically organized to support and prove the above principles. The result of the study is expected to effectively be utilized for Korean environment plan and design as a benchmarking guidelines against the crisis of degeneration and the aging society with the lowest birthrates in the world.

Concept Analysis of Preparatory Grief in Terminal Cancer Patients (암환자의 예비슬픔[preparatory grief]에 대한 개념 분석)

  • Park Hyoung-Sook;Kim Myoung-Soo;Jung Jung-Sim;Choi Nam-Yeoun;Yu Sung-Mi;Ko Young-Hee;Kim Young-Soon
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.36 no.5
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    • pp.782-791
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    • 2006
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conceptualize and clarify a concept of "preparatory grief" in terminal cancer patients. Method: A hybrid model of concept development was applied to develop a concept of preparatory grief, which included a field study carried out in Busan, Korea. Participants of this study were 8 cancer patients. Results: On the basis of our literature, research and clinical experience, the concept of preparatory grief emerged as a complex phenomenon playing an important role in five areas; physical, emotional, interpersonal, religious, and transcendental dimensions. Two new attributes were defined through a field phase; trust of the post-mortal world and a serene state of mind. Indicators reflected attitudes of sadness, worry, regret, capability to adapt and hope. The results of preparatory grief were loss of energy and interest, emotional chaos, contemplation, taciturnity and restoration. Conclusions : Differentiating among preparatory grief and other symptoms in cancer patients is essential because of therapeutic implications. Understanding preparatory grief is necessary in order to manage cancer patients for promoting quality of life so that its application may have a positive impact on the patient's life.

Estimation on Economic Value for Cultivated Wild Ginseng using Choice Experiment (선택실험법을 이용한 산양삼의 경제적 가치평가)

  • Kim, Eui-Gyeong;Kim, Dong-Hyeon
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.102 no.3
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    • pp.338-344
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    • 2013
  • The study was conducted to set up the criteria of judgement that could be utilized for cultivated wild ginseng, easy and well-defined for consumers to understand. For the purpose, the study examined consumers' perception and valuation on each attribute of cultivated wild ginseng that was related to the product quality through a choice experiment. Attributes used in the experiment were based on exterior characteristics of cultivated wild ginseng including ages, planting methods, external dimension, length of fibrous roots, and hue and color. Residents in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province were interviewed and a total of 173 questionnaires were acquired for the analysis. According to the result, respondents valued the highest score on ginseng grown by direct sowing, while they valued rather lower scores on ginseng's external dimension. In general, the hypothetical model was shown to exist within the stable range.

Comparative Effects of Gamma Irradiation and Methyl Bromide Fumigation on Disinfestation and Physicochemical Properties of Mung Bean (감마선과 Methyl Bromide 처리가 녹두의 살충 및 이화학적 특성에 미치는 영향)

  • 노미정;권중호;권용정;허은엽;권용순;변명우
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.30 no.3
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    • pp.444-449
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    • 2001
  • Comparative effects of gamma irradiation and methyl bromide (MeBr) fumigation on disinfestation and physicochemical attributes of mung bean were investigated. Insects in domestic mung bean were identified to be Collosobruchus chinensis Linne. Ina disinfestation test, MeBr showed 100% disinfestation effect on Larva and adult at 5th day after treatments, while irradiation dose above 3 kGy was effective for disinfesting all larva at that time. Adults were more sensitive to radiation than larva. Around 1 kGy was enough to control larva and adult in mung bean following 10 to 15 days of irradiation. In physicochemical properties of treated sampels, nitrogen solubility, TBA value, amino acid and fatty acid compositions were not different among the control, 2.5 kGy-irradiated and MeBr-fumigated samples. MeBr fumigation caused the decrease in lightness (Hunter's L value) and the increase in redness (a value) and yellowness (b value), thereby resulting in overall color difference (${\Delta}E$) in a noticeable level (NBS 2.61~2.94).

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Modified LEACH Protocol improving the Stabilization of Topology in Metal Obstacle Environment (금속 장애물 환경에서 토폴로지 안정성을 개선한 변형 LEACH 프로토콜)

  • Yi, Ki-One;Lee, Jae-Kee;Kwark, Gwang-Hoon
    • The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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    • v.34 no.12B
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    • pp.1349-1358
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    • 2009
  • Because of the limitation of supporting power, the current WSN(Wireless Sensor Network) Technologies whose one of the core attributes is low power consumption are the best solution for shipping container networking in stack environment such as on vessel. So it is effective to use the Wireless Sensor Network Technology. In this case, many nodes join in the network through a sink node because there are difficulties to get big money and efforts to set up a lot of sink node. It needs clustering-based proactive protocol to manage many nodes. But it shows low reliability because they have effect on radio frequency in metal obstacle environments(interference, distortion, reflection, and etc) like the intelligent container. In this paper, we proposed an improved Modified LEACH Protocol for stableness radio frequency environment. In the proposed protocol, we tried to join the network and derived stable topology composition after the measuring of link quality. Finally, we verified that the proposed protocol is composing more stable topology than previously protocol in metal obstacle environment.

The Effect of Dining Space Color and Design on Customers' Psychological Reactions, Satisfaction and Reuse Intention in Restaurants (외식업 식공간 색채 및 디자인 연출이 고객의 심리적 반응과 만족 및 재이용 의도에 미치는 영향)

  • Huh, Yeong-Uook
    • Culinary science and hospitality research
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.103-118
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    • 2015
  • This study is intended to look into the effect of dining space color and design on customers' psychological response, satisfaction, and reuse intention of restaurants. To achieve this, an empirical survey was carried out based on responses from 400 dining-out customers. The results were as follows. The dining space color and design had a significant and positive effect on customers' psychological reaction, satisfaction and reuse intention of restaurants. This is a result of positively evaluated service through an increased customer emotional response to simultaneous factors. It also suggest a recognition of a customer's psychological response in forming images based on restaurant attributes aside from food quality, such technique, ornamental equipment, sound, and design factors harmonized with indoor environment, in an attempt to increase customer interest in an increasingly competitive business environment. Consequently, dining space color and design can lead to customers' psychological satisfaction and reuse intention.

Analysis of Outdoor Wear Consumer Characteristics and Leading Outdoor Wear Brands Using SNS Social Big Data (SNS 소셜 빅데이터를 통한 아웃도어 의류 소비자 특성과 주요 아웃도어 의류 브랜드 현황 분석)

  • Jung, Hye Jung;Oh, Kyung Wha
    • Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.48-62
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    • 2016
  • Consumers have come to demand high quality, affordable prices, and innovative product designs of the outdoor wear market due to their well-being and leisure oriented lifestyle. A new system of business in outdoor wear has emerged in the process through which corporations have endeavored to satisfy such consumer needs. Outdoor wear brands have utilized social network services (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter as means of marketing and have built close relations with consumers based on communication through these media. Recently, explosively escalating SNS data are referred to as social big data, and now that every consumer online is a commentator, reviewer, and publisher, the outdoor wear market and all of its brands have to stop talking and start listening to how they are perceived. Therefore, this study employs Social $Metrics^{TM}$, a social big data analysis solution by Daumsoft, Inc., to verify changes in the allusions related to outdoor wear market found on SNS. This study aims to identify changes in consumer perceptions of outdoor wear based on changes in outdoor wear search words and trends in positive and negative public opinion found in SNS social big data. In addition, products of interest, the major brands mentioned, the attributes taken into consideration during purchases of products, and consumers' psychology were categorized and analyzed by means of keywords related to outdoor wear brands found on SNS. The results of this study will provide fundamental resources for outdoor wear brands' market entry and brand strategy implementation in the future.