• Title/Summary/Keyword: urban characterization

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Characterization of the Physical Form of Allergenic Cry j 1 in the Urban Atmosphere and Determination of Cry j 1 Denaturation by Air Pollutants

  • Wang, Qingyue;Morita, Jun;Gong, Xiumin;Nakamura, Shinichi;Suzuki, Miho;Lu, Senlin;Sekiguchi, Kazuhiko;Nakajima, Takuya;Nakajima, Daisuke;Miwa, Makoto
    • Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.33-40
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    • 2012
  • In this study, we characterized the physical form of allergenic Cry j 1 in the urban atmosphere. Through an immunofluorescence antibody method, we showed that allergenic Cry j 1 exists as fine particles (${\leq}1.1{\mu}m$). To determine Cry j 1 concentrations and its particle size distribution, we used the ELISA method to confirm that most Cry j 1 exists as fine particles in the urban atmosphere and is found at high concentrations on fine day next to rainy day. Furthermore, we evaluated Cry j 1 denaturation by using the Biacore J system based on the surface plasmon resonence (SPR) principle and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). We showed that the dissociation constant ($K_D$) of Cry j 1 that has been exposed to urban polluted air is lower ($1.76{\times}10^{-14}$ M) than that of Cry j 1 ($1.32{\times}10^{-9}-3.37{\times}10^{-9}$ M) of original pollen grains that has not been exposed to air pollutants. Cry j 1 turns into low molecular weight proteins by reacting with various acidic solutions. In sum, we showed that allergenic Cry j 1 exists as fine particles that can deposit in the lower respiratory tract. This finding clarifies the relationship between Japanese cedar pollinosis and air pollutants.

Characteristics of Changes in Water Quality in the Suyoung River During Rainfall Event (강우 시 수영강 유역의 수질변화 특성)

  • Kim, Suhyun;Kim, Jungsun;Kang, Limseok
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.9-18
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    • 2019
  • Recently, it was realized that a significant portion of pollution from urban areas originates from non-point sources such as construction sites, washoff from impervious surfaces, and sewage input from unsewered areas and combined sewer overflows. Especially, Urban stormwater runoff is one of the most extensive cause of the deterioration of the water quality in streams located in urban area. The objective of this study was to investigate runoff characteristics of non-point pollutants source at the urban area in the Suyeong River. Water quality variations were investigated at two points of Suyeong River during a period of 10 rainfall events. Concentration difference of non-point pollution source appeared big by precedent number of days of no rainfall. In addition, Event mean Concentration (EMCs) that well represents runoff characteristics of storm water during rainfall, was calculated, and runoff pollutants loading was also examined. The probability distribution of EMCs of BOD, COD, TOC, T-N, T-P, and TSS were analyzed and the mean values of observed EMC and the median values of estimated EMCs compared through probability distribution. Other objectives of this study were the characterization of discharge from non-point source, the analysis of the pollutant loads and an establishment of a management plan for non-point source of Suyeong River. Also, It was established that the most important thing for the administration of non-point pollution source is to come up with the solution for the reduction of effluent at the beginning.

Assessment of Sorption Behavior on Slag Against Heavy Metals (카드뮴, 납, 구리에 대한 슬래그의 흡착특성평가)

  • Lee, Gwang-Hun;Choi, Sung-Dae;Chung, Jae-Shik;Park, Jun-Boum;Nam, Kyoung-Phile
    • Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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    • v.24 no.6
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    • pp.17-25
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    • 2008
  • Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) technology can be applied to contaminated groundwater remediation. It is necessary to select adequate reactive material according to contaminant characterization. In groundwater. In this research, the reaction between reactive material and heavy metal contaminants was estimated through batch test. Reactive material was slag, which has been produced in Gwangyang power plant, and heavy metal contaminants were cadmium, lead and copper. Batch test consisted of two testes: 1) sorption equilibrium test and 2) sorption kinetic test. Sorption equilibrium test was performed for estimating slag sorption capacity against contaminants. And sorption kinetic test was performed for slag sorption rate with contaminants species, contaminants initial concentration and sulfate. Sorption capacity and sorption rate were affected by contaminant species. Sorption rate increased with increasing initial concentration in lead and copper but decreased with increasing initial concentration in cadmium. Sorption rate increased in existing sulfate. In low concentration, film diffusion was domain mechanism, and in high concentration, particle diffusion was domain mechanism.

A Study on the Characterization of Land use in Urban Areas, according to Nonpoint Pollutant Source Runoff (도시지역 토지이용에 따른 강우사상별 비점오염물질 유출특성 파악)

  • Ryu, Je-Ha;Yoon, Chun Gyeong;Choi, Jae-Ho;Rhee, Han-Pil;Hwang, Mun-Yuong;Yang, Hwee-Jung
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.29 no.3
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    • pp.309-316
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    • 2013
  • The Non-Point Sources shows different characteristics over a wide area depending on basin situation and rainfall events etc. In addition, Among various land uses in the urban areas, runoff appears high in the paved area, though small in its size, during a heavy rain than in other land use owing to its high impervious rate, and pollutants become severly accumulated owing to continual transportation of vehicles, characteristically showing high concentrations of runoff in the early stage. As a result, several advanced countries including USA give a special emphasis on the paved area as a target for supervision. In view of these aspects, the research is not only required to consider separated sub-basins which are distributed according to land uses, but also needed to develop a suitable monitoring which is reflected rainfall-runoff relation. The on-site monitoring has been performed to collect data in object watershed as well.

The Characterization of Surface Ozone Concentrations in Seoul, Koera

  • Heo, Jeong-Sook;Kim, Dong-Sool
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.18 no.E3
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    • pp.129-142
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    • 2002
  • This paper provides a long-term perspective for ozone concentrations at 20 national air quality monitoring sites in Seoul from 1989 to 1998, which were managed by the Korean Ministry of Environment. Ozone episodes occurred more frequently in the east areas (Bangi, Guui, Seongsu, and Ssangmun) than in the west area (Guro and Oryu). When an ozone episode happened, hourly ozone concentrations over 80 ppb continued for an average of 4.0 hours at all sites. Annual variations in daily mean and maximum oBone concentrations showed broadly consistent upward trends at Ssangmun and Gwanaksan. Monthly mean ozone concentrations were the highest from May to June and the 99$^{th}$ and 95$^{th}$ percentile levels appeared higher during June, July, and August. The diurnal patterns of hourly mean ozone levels in urban areas showed typical photochemical formation and destruction, while the flat diurnal shape before 1996 at Gwanaksan indicated few significant photochemical reactions due to a lack of precursors of ozone. The occurrence of ozone over 80 ppb was ascribed to meteorological conditions such as high temperature, strong solar radiation, low relative humidity, and low wind speed with winds most frequently in a westerly direction.

Structural Characterization of Public Transportation Networks based on QAP Correlation (QAP상관분석을 통한 대중교통 네트워크의 구조적 특성 규명)

  • Jeong, Seok-Bong;Yoon, Hyoup-Sang
    • Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.95-102
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    • 2019
  • Public transportation systems play key roles in supporting dynamic activities and interaction between urban places. Especially, high efficient public transportation systems are required in order to support large traffic demands in urban areas. In this paper, we define a new metric, structural activation level (SAL), to replace the conventional transportation share ratio (TSR) measuring efficiency of public transportation systems. First of all, we access the Korea Transport Database (KTDB) and download origin-destination data by transport types to construct traffic networks with respect to transport types for each city. Then, we calculate the QAP (Quadratic Assignment Procedure) correlation between each traffic network and the total traffic network for each city to investigate SAL by comparing cities one another. The results of our investigation reveal inconsistency between TSR and SAL. In Daegu, TSR of public transportation systems is relatively low while SAL is high. In Deajeon, however, SAL is low while TSR is high. Therefore, we suggest to take into consideration SAL as well as TSR in order to investigate the degree of activation of public transportation.

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of ESBL Producing Enterobacteriaceae from Highly Polluted Stretch of River Yamuna, India

  • Siddiqui, Kehkashan;Mondal, Aftab Hossain;Siddiqui, Mohammad Tahir;Azam, Mudsser;Haq., Qazi Mohd. Rizwanul
    • Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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    • v.46 no.2
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    • pp.135-144
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    • 2018
  • The rapid increase in number and diversity of Extended Spectrum ${\beta}$-Lactamases (ESBLs) producing Enterobacteriaceae in natural aquatic environment is a major health concern worldwide. This study investigates abundance and distribution of ESBL producing multidrug resistant Enterobacteriaceae and molecular characterization of ESBL genes among isolates from highly polluted stretch of river Yamuna, India. Water samples were collected from ten different sites distributed across Delhi stretch of river Yamuna, during 2014-15. A total of 506 non duplicate Enterobacteriaceae isolates were obtained. Phenotypic detection of ESBL production and antibiotic sensitivity for 15 different antibiotics were performed according to CLSI guidelines (Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute, 2015). A subset of ESBL positive Enterobacteriaceae isolates were identified by 16S rRNA gene and screened for ESBL genes, such as $bla_{CTX-M}$, $bla_{TEM}$ and $bla_{OXA}$. Out of 506 non-duplicate bacterial isolates obtained, 175 (34.58%) were positive for ESBL production. Susceptibility pattern for fifteen antibiotics used in this study revealed higher resistance to cefazolin, rifampicin and ampicillin. A high proportion (76.57%) of ESBL positive isolates showed multidrug resistance phenotype, with MAR index of 0.39 at Buddha Vihar and Old Delhi Railway bridge sampling site. Identification and PCR based characterization of ESBL genes revealed the prevalence of $bla_{CTX-M}$ and $bla_{TEM}$ genes to be 88.33% and 61.66%, respectively. Co-occurrence of $bla_{CTX-M}$ and $bla_{TEM}$ genes was detected in 58.33% of the resistant bacteria. The $bla_{OXA}$ gene was not detected in any isolates. This study highlights deteriorating condition of urban aquatic environment due to rising level of ESBL producing Enterobacteriaceae with multidrug resistance phenotype.

Characterization of Air Quality in Various Types of Indoor Environments in Urban Areas - Focusing on Homes, Offices, and Restaurants - (도시지역 실내환경 유형별 공기질 특성 평가 -가정, 사무실 및 식당을 중심으로-)

  • 백성옥;김윤신
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.343-360
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    • 1998
  • In this study, comprehensive air quality monitoring was undertaken with a variety of objectives to collect data on the levels of various indoor and ambient air quality parameters in the urban areas of Seoul and Taegu. The sampling sites were comprised of six offices, six residences and six restaurants in each city. The ambient air adjacent to the indoor sites was also simultaneously sampled for the same constituents. The sampling was conducted in two phases: summer of 1994 and winter of 1994/95. A range of air quality parameters were measured simultaneously, which include RSP, CO, COB, NOB, a range of VOC, airborne microbials, temperature, and relative humidity. The indoor and ambient levels of the pollutants measured in this study varied widely between the three types of environments studied. Comparison of median values for the three groups revealed that restaurants had higher indoor levels of most pollutants than homes or offices. There was also a clear pattern of the indoor levels of target pollutants being higher than those outdoors, particularly in restaurants. Concentrations of CO and most of the VOC were found to be significantly higher in the commercial districts, indicating the influence of vehicle exhaust emissions. A very wide range of VOC levels was documented in this study. Although median indoorloutdoor ratios indicated a generally increasing level of VOC indoors when compared to those outdoors, no statistically significant differences were found between indoor and outdoor VOC levels in homes and offices, implying the importance of ambient air quality in determining the quality of indoor air for homes and offices in urban areas. In addition, there was a general pattern of increasing concentrations from summer to winter, and similarly from outdoor to indoor air for nearly all target compounds. The seasonal differences in median levels were very clearly seen for fuel combustion related pollutants such as RSP, CO and VOC, this being attributed to the effects of increased fuel consumption during the cold season and to meteorological factors.

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A study on the chemical emission of furnitures using the large chamber method (대형챔버에 의한 생활제품(가구류) 방출오염물질 특성연구)

  • Park, Jae-Hyoung;Knag, Yoon-Kyung;Lee, Yun-Gyu
    • Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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    • 2008.06a
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    • pp.742-747
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    • 2008
  • Formaldehyde(HCHO) and total volatile organic compounds(VOCs) can cause adverse health effects to the building occupants and may contribute to symptoms of 'Sick Building Syndrome'. These chemical contaminants are emitted from furnishings and electronic equipments as well as building materials. The purpose of this study is to measure and analyze VOCs and HCHO emission concentration from furnitures composed of wood materials including various chemicals by the large chamber method. This paper presents experiment results on the emission concentration of TVOCs and HCHO released from furnitures, such as bed, kitchen, sofa and table by a large chamber($24m^3$). The temperature and air humidity in the chamber are controlled to $25{\pm}1{\circ}C$ and $50{\pm}5%$ for this experiment. When the air change rate is $0.5hr^{-1}$, the background concentrations within the large chamber are below $50{\mu}g/m^3$ for TVOC, $5{\mu}g/m^3$ for HCHO and individual VOCs. The study is investigated the characterization of the chemical emission TVOC and HCHO concentrations and unknown VOCs from 6 furnitures.

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