A thermochemical conversion method known as hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is appealing, because it may convert wet biomass directly into energy and chemicals without the need for pre-drying. The hydrochar solid product’s capacity to prepare precursors of activated carbon has attracted attention. HTC has been utilized to solve practical issues and produce desired carbonaceous products on a variety of generated wastes, including municipal solid waste, algae, and sludge in addition to the typically lignocellulose biomass used as sustainable feedstock. This study aims to assess the in-depth description of hydrothermal carbonization, highlighting the most recent findings with regard to the technological mechanisms and practical advantages. The process parameters, which include temperature, water content, pH, and retention time, determine the characteristics of the final products. The right setting of parameters is crucial, since it significantly affects the characteristics of hydrothermal products and opens up a range of opportunities for their use in multiple sectors. Findings reveal that the type of precursor, retention time, and temperature at which the reaction is processed were discovered to be the main determinants of the HTC process. Lower solid products are produced at higher temperatures; the carbon concentration rises, while the hydrogen and oxygen content declines. Current knowledge gaps, fresh views, and associated recommendations were offered to fully use the HTC technique's enormous potential and to provide hydrochar with additional useful applications in the future.

Water electrolysis holds great potential as a method for producing renewable hydrogen fuel at large-scale, and to replace the fossil fuels responsible for greenhouse gases emissions and global climate change. To reduce the cost of hydrogen and make it competitive against fossil fuels, the efficiency of green hydrogen production should be maximized. This requires superior electrocatalysts to reduce the reaction energy barriers. The development of catalytic materials has mostly relied on empirical, trial-and-error methods because of the complicated, multidimensional, and dynamic nature of catalysis, requiring significant time and effort to find optimized multicomponent catalysts under a variety of reaction conditions. The ultimate goal for all researchers in the materials science and engineering field is the rational and efficient design of materials with desired performance. Discovering and understanding new catalysts with desired properties is at the heart of materials science research. This process can benefit from machine learning (ML), given the complex nature of catalytic reactions and vast range of candidate materials. This review summarizes recent achievements in catalysts discovery for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The basic concepts of ML algorithms and practical guides for materials scientists are also demonstrated. The challenges and strategies of applying ML are discussed, which should be collaboratively addressed by materials scientists and ML communities. The ultimate integration of ML in catalyst development is expected to accelerate the design, discovery, optimization, and interpretation of superior electrocatalysts, to realize a carbon-free ecosystem based on green hydrogen.

The purpose of this study was to assess consumption and satisfaction with fresh-cut produce in Korean adults. In this study, an online survey November 9~13, 2020 was conducted with 982 Korean adults age 19~64 (490 males and 492 females) with experience in purchasing fresh-cut produce in the past year. Among all respondents, the percentage with experience in buying ‘washed or peeled vegetables’ was the highest (71.18%), followed by those in buying ‘packaged salads/sprouts/ssam vegetables’ (64.15%), ‘pre-cut fruits/fruit cups’ (59.98%), ‘pre-cut or minced vegetables’ (56.01%), and ‘washed or peeled fruits’ (53.67%), respectively. Among the types of fresh-cut produce, ‘packaged salads/sprouts/ssam vegetables’ showed the highest satisfaction score at 3.73 pts, and the overall satisfaction score of fresh-cut produce consumption was also 3.73 pts. Compared to male respondents, female respondents showed a significantly higher percentage of respondents that purchased ‘packaged salads/sprouts/ssam vegetables’ (p=0.0409), significantly higher satisfaction scores (p=0.0124), and a higher percentage of respondents considering ‘freshness’ important when purchasing (p<0.0001). Additionally, the group with high household income comprised a significantly higher ratio of respondents considering ‘eco-friendly or organic status’ important. The study results may facilitate identify areas for improvement of fresh-cut produce in the future.

Uniform scions and rootstocks should be produced to ensure grafting success. Light quality is an important environmental factor that regulates seedling growth. The effects of warm- and cool-white light emitting diode (LED) ratios on seedling growth were investigated. Scions and rootstocks of cucumber, tomato, and watermelon were grown in a closed transplant production system using LED as the sole lighting source. The LED treatments were W1C0 (only warm-white), W1C1 (warm-white: cool-white = 1:1), W3C1 (warm-white: cool-white = 3:1), and W5C2 (warm-white: cool-white = 5:2). The seedlings grown in W1C1 had the shortest hypocotyls, and the seedlings grown in W1C0 had the longest hypocotyls among the three tested vegetables. The hypocotyls of watermelon scions, watermelon rootstocks, and tomato rootstocks were shortest in W1C1, followed by those in W3C1, W5C2, and W1C0, but there was no significant difference between W3C1 and W5C2, which remained the same as the ratio of cool-white LEDs increased. In addition, tomato scions had the first and second longest hypocotyls in W1C0 and W3C1, respectively, and the shortest hypocotyls in W5C2 and W1C1, along with W5C2 and W1C1, although the difference was not significant. The stem diameter was highest in W1C0 except for tomato seedlings and rootstocks of watermelon. The shoot fresh weight of scions and rootstocks of cucumber and watermelon and the root fresh weight of cucumber scions were lowest in W1C1. These results indicated that different ratios of LED lighting sources had a strong effect on the hypocotyl elongation of seedlings.

The study was conducted to identify the anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects in sprouts of mouse-eyed bean (Rhynchosia nulubilis), ginseng (Panax ginseng), perilla (Perilla frutescens), broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica), and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) grown with organic germanium concentrate. Western blot analysis was performed to assess the antiinflammatory activity of the extract. All extracts exhibited noticeable anti-oxidant activity, indicating a significant correlation between the germanium content and anti-oxidant activity (p<0.05). In particular, rat-eyed bean sprouts with the highest germanium content showed significant anti-inflammatory activity (p<0.05) by significantly inhibiting the expression of the inflammatory complexes, NLRP3, cytokines IL-1β and caspase-1. Ginseng and broccoli sprouts showed strong anti-cancer properties and had high anti-oxidant effects (p<0.001). Germanium-concentrated water allows the mass production of agricultural products containing high concentrations of organic germanium. Agricultural produce grown with germanium concentrate add organic germanium to various physiological active ingredients, increasing the anti-oxidant and anti-cancer effects. These results strongly suggest that agricultural products containing high germanium concentrations can be used as novel health supplements to improve health.

High-pressure membrane system like nanofiltration(NF) and reverse osmosis(RO) was investigated as a part of water treatment processes to produce high quality potable water with low organic matter concentration through membrane module tests and design simulation. River water and sand filtration permeate in Busan D water treatment plant were selected as feed water, and NE4040-90 and RE4040-Fen(Toray Chemical Korea) were used as NF and RO membranes, respectively. Total organic carbon(TOC) concentrations of NF and RO permeates were mostly below 0.5 mg/l and the average TOC removal rates of NF and RO membranes were 93.99% and 94.28%, respectively, which means NF used in this study is competitive with RO in terms of organic matter removal ability. Different from ions rejection tendency, the TOC removal rate increases at higher recovery rates, which is because the portion of higher molecular weight materials in the concentrated raw water with increasing recovery rate increases. Discharge of NF/RO concentrates to rivers may not be acceptable because the increased TDS concentration of the concentrates can harm the river eco-system. Thus, the idea of using NF/RO concentrate as the raw water for industrial water production was introduced. The design simulation results with feed water and membranes used in this work reveal that the raw water guideline can be satisfied if the recovery rate of NF/RO system is designed below 80%.

UO2 kernels, a key component of fuel elements for high temperature gas cooled reactors, have usually been prepared by sol-gel methods. Sol-gel processes have a number of advantages, such as simple processes and facilities, and higher sphericity and density. In this study, to produce 900 μm-sized UO2 particles using an external gelation process, contact length extension of the NH3 gas of the broth droplets pass and the improvement of the gelation device capable of spraying 14 MNH4OH solution are used to form 3,000 μm-sized liquid droplets. To produce high-sphericity and high-density UO2 particles, HMTA, which promotes the gelation reaction in the uranium broth solution, is added to diffuse ammonium ions from the outside of the gelation solution during the aging process and generate ammonium ions from the inside of the ADU gel particles. Sufficient gelation inside of ADU gel particles is achieved, and the density of the UO2 spheres that undergo the subsequent treatment is 10.78 g/cm3; the sphericity is analyzed and found to be 0.948, indicating good experimental results.

기후변화에 대비하여 고온성 양송이 백색 품종을 육성한 결과는 다음과 같다. 모본은 KMCC00540, KMCC00591, KMCC00643을 선발하였고, ISSR과 SSR마커로 각각 동 핵균주를 선발하여 교잡하였다. 선발 교잡주를 고온 20~25 o C, 습도 80% 이상에서 3반복으로 재배하여 농업적 형질과 자실체 특성의 변이가 가장 적은 것은 Abs4-2016- 121 계통이었다. 이 계통은 KMCC00000와 KMCC0000를 교잡한 계통이며, 경주와 부여 농가에서 현장실증시험결과 Abs4-2016-121 계통이 자실체 경도가 높으며 고온에서 갓 개열이 지연되어 고온성 품종 ‘하담’으로 육성하였다.

경기 북부 내 직거래 매장에서 유통 되는 농산물 207건을 수거하여 잔류농약의 실태를 조사하였다. 로컬푸드와 소비자생활협동조합(생협) 매장을 대상으로 일반농산물 94 건, 친환경농산물 113건의 다소비 채소류를 수거하여 다종농약다성분 분석법으로 GC/ECD, GC/NPD, GC-MS/MS, LC/PDA, LC/FLD, LC-MS/MS를 이용하여 263종의 농약을 분석하였다. 잔류농약이 검출된 검체는 모두 로컬푸드 매장에서 수거한 일반 농산물로 14건의(6.8%) 시료에서 잔류농약이 검출되었고, 그 중 1건에서(0.5%) 잔류농약허 용기준을 초과하였다. 총 16개 농약성분이 검출되었고 검 출된 작물은 시금치, 얼갈이, 깻잎, 아욱, 오이, 부추, 미나리였다. 농약 검출량을 바탕으로 일일섭취추정량(EDI)과 일일섭취허용량(ADI)을 이용하여 위해성 평가를 하였으며, %ADI 값의 범위는 0.0134-61.6259%로 안전한 수준이었다.

아메리카왕거저리는 주로 애완동물의 먹이로 사용되고 있으며 대형어, 파충류, 양서류, 조류의 주식 및 간식으로 활용하기도 하며 낚시 미끼로 일부 이용되고 있는 거저리류다. 아메리카왕거저리를 대량 사육하기 위해 성충의 산란율 증가와 균일한 유충을 확보하는 기술이 필요하다. 성충의 산란격리틀을 이동시켜줌으로써 유충 단계가 혼재되어 선발하는데 노동력을 줄이며 높은 수확량과 균일한 유충을 확보하기 위해 5일, 10일, 15일 간격으로 성충을 산란틀로 옮겼을 때 5일 간격으로 성충을 옮기는 처리에서 총부화유충수 7,256마리로 10일이나 15일의 5,439마리, 2,060마리보다 더 많은 유충수를 확보할 수 있었다. 또한 5일과 10일간격으로 산란을 시킬 때 80일째에 유충무게에 대한 변이계수(CV)는 각각 10.08, 10.28로 유충의 무게가 비교적 일률적이지만 15일 간격에서 변이계수는 24.84로 5일과 10일 간격보다 높아 유충이 일률적이지 않았다. 따라서 아메리카왕거저리 성충을 5일 간격으로 산란틀을 옮기면서 산란을 9회 시키면 7,000마리 이상의 유충을 확보할 수 있으며 이때 한 마리당 무게는 0.68g 확보가 가능하였다.

The health benefits associated with consumption of fresh produce have been clearly demonstrated and encouraged by international nutrition and health authorities. However, since fresh produce is usually minimally processed, increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables has also led to a simultaneous escalation of foodborne illness cases. According to the report by the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 10 people suffer from foodborne diseases and 420,000 die every year globally. In comparison to other processed foods, fresh produce can be easily contaminated by various routes at different points in the supply chain from farm to fork. This review is focused on the identification and characterization of possible sources of foodborne illnesses from chemical, biological, and physical hazards and the applicable methodologies to detect potential contaminants. Agro-chemicals (pesticides, fungicides and herbicides), natural toxins (mycotoxins and plant toxins), and heavy metals (mercury and cadmium) are the main sources of chemical hazards, which can be detected by several methods including chromatography and nano-techniques based on nanostructured materials such as noble metal nanoparticles (NMPs), quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic nanoparticles or nanotube. However, the diversity of chemical structures complicates the establishment of one standard method to differentiate the variety of chemical compounds. In addition, fresh fruits and vegetables contain high nutrient contents and moisture, which promote the growth of unwanted microorganisms including bacterial pathogens (Salmonella, E. coli O157: H7, Shigella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus) and non-bacterial pathogens (norovirus and parasites). In order to detect specific pathogens in fresh produce, methods based on molecular biology such as PCR and immunology are commonly used. Finally, physical hazards including contamination by glass, metal, and gravel in food can cause serious injuries to customers. In order to decrease physical hazards, vision systems such as X-ray inspection have been adopted to detect physical contaminants in food, while exceptional handling skills by food production employees are required to prevent additional contamination.

해운시장의 건화물 분야에서 널리 이용되고 있는 “New York Produce Exchange 정기용선계약서”는, 특히 NYPE 1993 서식은 정기용선계약의 주류를 이루면서 현재까지 용선시장에서 광범위하게 활용되고 있다. 그러나, 해운업계에서 널리 사용되던 NYPE 1993 서식이 20여년을 경과하게 되면서 현재의 상거래 관행 및 법적 발전 부분을 담아야 하는 필요성이 제기되어 발틱국제해운협의회, 선박중개인-대리점협회 및 싱가포르 해사재단의 협업으로 개정을 검토하게 되었다. NYPE 2015 서식이 추구하는 바는 계약당사자간의 상업적 이해관계에 대한 균형을 이루는 것으로, 특히 건화물 분야의 실무가들 사이에 널리 이용되어 온 수정사항(amendments)과 추가약관(rider clauses)을 수용하여 전 세계적인 범용성을 기대하고 있다. 그러므로 새로운 서식은 용어를 명확하게 하고 법적 균형을 맞추기 위해 노력한 결과물로 해운업계에서 널리 이용될 것으로 기대된다. 이와 관련하여 이 논문에서는 NYPE 2015에 대한 주요 개정 약관에 대한 내용을 살펴봄으로써 이를 이용하게 될 실무자의 이해를 돕고자 한다.

In this research, we are going to explore the effect of processing fluency and different types of appeal on consumer’s prosocial intention. There are contradictory findings regarding the effects of processing fluency whether easy to process fluency (EPF) or difficult to process fluency (DPF) is more efficient to lead prosocial behavior (Reber, Schwarz, & Winkielman, 2004). However, we predict that different appeals based on egoistic or altruistic motives may influence people’s perceptions of processing fluency. In particular, if a primed appeal concerns egoistic motives, effort to reach the selfish appeal could not be reflected as honorable for themselves (Zhang, Xu, Jiang, & Huang, 2010). As a result, we predict that such perceived disgraceful efforts will increase unpleasant emotional states such as guilt, which arises when experiencing possible objections to their actions or intentions (Peloza, White, & Shang, 2013). Thus, we hypothesized and found that in study 1, people primed with self-benefiting appeals considered a difficult to process campaign to be less favorable than an easy to process campaign. Self-benefiting appeals increased a sense of guilt when people are in a DPF condition compared to an EPF condition. Finally, in study 2, the demonstrated effect from study 1 was explained with underlying mechanism as a sense of guilt. In conclusion, this study has theoretical implications in discovering the relationship between processing fluency and different types of appeal. When the appeal is considered disgraceful from egoistic motives, putting extra efforts into DPF campaigns is considered unjustifiable through increasing guilty feelings. This effect causes unfavorable attitudes toward DPF campaigns and decreases prosocial behavior. As a result, our findings provide insights for marketers by suggesting effective strategies for designing prosocial campaigns.

미국 정부는 2011년 식품안전현대화법(FSMA, Food Safety Modernization Act)을 제정하였으며 단계적으로 실시 및 실시예정에 있다. 이중 농산물안전(Produce Safety) 최종규칙은 농산물 재배, 수확, 포장 및 보관과 관련된 생물학적 위해요소에 초점을 맞추고 있는데, 영농규모 등에 따라 2017년 1월부터 단계적으로 시행되고 있다. FSMA 의 농산물안전 규칙 중 현장에서 준수해야 하는 조항을 55개 선별하여 한국 GAP기준과 비교한 결과, 비교 대상 인 두 개의 기준이 조항별 관리사항에 대해 1:1로 단순비교하기에는 어려운 점이 있으나 상당수의 한국 GAP기준이 대응이 가능하다. 다만 한국 GAP기준은 포괄적 기준으로 평가자에 따라 다른 판단을 할 여지가 많으므로 기준의 세부 사항의 보강이 필요하다. 조항별로 보면, 작업자 안전위생(FSMA Subpart D)에 대하여 한국 GAP기준은 가장 높게 대응이 되며, 그 다음으로는 가축 및 야생 동물(FSMA Subpart I), 건물·장비·도구(FSMA Subpart L), 재배·수확 등의 활동(FSMA Subpart K) 순으로 대응이 되고 있다. 그러나, 농업용수 관리(FSMA Subpart E)와 관리자의 자격 및 교육(FSMA Subpart C)에 대해서는 다소 미 흡한 실정이며, 가축분뇨기반 퇴비 관리(FSMA Subpart F) 에 대해서는 대응이 취약한 편이다. FSMA 규칙은 인증 기준은 아니나, 세계적으로 식품안전의 표준을 선도하는 미국이 제시한 규칙인 만큼 파급력이 상당할 것으로 예상 된다. 따라서 국내 농산물 기준 중 FSMA 규칙에서 강조 하는 미생물적 안전성에 대응하는 기준이 GAP기준이므로 한국 GAP기준의 재검토를 통해 우리 농산물의 품질 향상 및 수출확대에 도움이 되기를 바란다.

The acidity of soy curd fermented by lactic acid bacteria is a major factor degrading the sensory properties of soy curd. For preparation of soy curd with low sour taste, lactic acid bacteria were separated from kimchi. The lactic acid bacteria which showed yellow-clear zone around the colonies on BCP plate and formed soy curd with low level of acidity were selected. The selected strain was analyzed by 16S rDNA sequence and named as Pediococcus inopinatus Y2. The maximum viable cell number of the soy curd fermented by P. inopinatus Y2 was obtained at 10.73 log CFU/mL at 25°C for 24 h of fermentation. By the results of panel test, the overall sensory quality of the soy curd produced by P. inopinatus Y2 was higher than that of Leuconostoc mesenteroides No. 4395 and Lactobacillus sakei strain No. 383.

Foodborne disease outbreaks associated with produces have been increasing in occurrence worldwide. This study investigated microbial contamination levels on thirteen kinds of agricultural products from farms stage to evaluate potential hazards associated with foodborne illness. A total of 1,820 samples were collected in major cultivating area from 2013 through 2015, and analyzed to enumerate aerobic bacterial counts, coliforms/E. coli, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, the prevalence study for four kinds of microorganisms (Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes) was performed on each sample. Aerobic bacterial counts ranged from 0.01 to 7.18 log CFU/g, with the highest bacterial cell counts recorded for watermelon. Coliforms were detected in 651 samples (35.8%) with a minimum of 0.01 log CFU/g and a maximum of more than 5 log CFU/g. B. cereus was detected in 169 samples (9.3%) ranging from < 0.01 to 2.48 log CFU/g among total samples analyzed. S. aureus was detected in 14 samples (0.7%) with a minimum of 0.01 log CFU/g and a maximum of 1.69 log CFU/g. E. coli was detected in 101 samples (5.5%) among 1,820 samples. E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes were not detected in any of the samples. The microbial contamination levels of several agricultural products determined in this study may be used as the fundamental data for microbiological risk assessment (MRA).