This study aims to identify the most tolerant species under salinity stress from amongst Asteraceae and Poaceae. The seeds of six species were exposed to different concentrations of CaCl2 (0, 9, 18, 45, 90 mM) and NaCl (0, 17, 34, 85, 170 mM), and germination was measured once every two days. The results indicated that percent germination of the six species of Asteraceae and Poaceae seeds were affected differently by changes in salinity concentration. Seed germination was reduced as salinity levels increase, and longer mean germination times correlated to lower percent germination and earlier germination cessation. Both Asteraceae and Poaceae seeds had the highest germination rates at 18 mM CaCl2 and 34 mM NaCl, and seed germination and growth were severely reduced at salinities greater than 90 mM CaCl2 and 170 mM NaCl. In the seeds of Poaceae, salt resistance was strong in the order of Miscanthus sinensis Andersson, Pennisetum alopecuroides (L.) Spreng., and Phragmites communis Trin. In the seeds of Asteraceae, salt resistance was strong in the order of Dendranthema zawadskii var. latilobum (Maxim.) Kitam, Aster yomena (Kitam.) Honda, and Dendranthema boreale (Makino) Ling ex Kitam.. Overall, the germination rate was higher in Asteraceae than in Poaceae. This study demonstrated that Dendranthema zawadskii var. latilobum (Maxim.) Kitam. is the most tolerant species and that a relationship exists between the salt tolerance of percent germination and the mean germination time in the leaves.
All of the animals and the plants in ecosystem are intimately connected to one another and the changes of forests and surroundings affect directly wild animals. This study was conducted at Hangyeong-myeon Cheongsu-ri located in the western part of Jeju Island belonging to Hangyeong·Andeok Gotjawal Zone and Jocheon-eup Seonheul-ri located in the eastern part of Jeju Island belonging to Jocheon·Hamdeok Gotjawal Zone. The survey on advent of birds was carried out twice a month from January 2014 to December 2015. We divided habitat environments into three survey sites such as a forest, a shrub forest and a farmland. A total of 65 species and 4,802 individuals were observed during the survey period. In a forest, 36 species and 1,287 individuals were observed while A shrub forest had 40 species and 1,554 individuals. And in a farmland, 41 species and 1,961 individuals were observed. The only 10 species were observed in forest and the only 7 species in shrub forest and the only 10 species in farmland. The species diversity and the evenness of a farmland were the highest, and the species richness was the highest in a shrub forest, and the dominance of a forest was the highest among the three areas. The similarity index between a shurb forest and a farmland was high while that between a forest and a farmland was low. The similarity index related with breeding appeared that a forest and a farmland was different from each other.
A lipid-enriched strain of Botryococcus braunii (UTEX 572) was cultivated in a semi-batch aeration tank to enhance biomass as well as to develop intracellular lipids and fatty acids. A 30 day period of incubation produced 1.39 g/L of biomass and 0.31 g/L of total lipids in the biomass. The grown biomass was pre-treated using several methods to extract the total lipid content efficiently: ultrasonication was found to yield the highest percentage of lipids-namely 19.8% per biomass. Direct heating of biomass in an autoclave also showed better performance than when using only conventional solvent extraction. To enhance the biomass harvest and lipid extraction efficiency, coagulation and flocculation steps were added to the extraction process. It is noteworthy that not only the solvent type but also the solvent/biomass ratio greatly affected efficiency. In addition, the moisture content of the harvested(wet) biomass affected the efficiency significantly. This study elucidated the need for future research on optimizing this extraction process.
Statistical analysis was carried out to identify the influence on environmental factors between paddy water chemical properties and Chl-a concentration (algae biomass index) using water samples collected in June for 3 years at rice paddy field. As a result of correlation analysis, there was a significantly negative relationships in DO(-0.366) and pH(-0.141). In contrast, significantly positive relationships were founded in COD(+0.431) and TOC(+0.422). According to the result of factor analysis, 3 factors were obtained and indicated that PC1 were Ca, K, Mg cation, PC2 were TOC, T-P, PO4 3--P and DO, and PC3 were T-N and NH4 +-N. As a result of linear regression analysis to develop a prediction model for chl-a concentration, the total amount of explanation was 20.6%, PC2 had the greatest influence on the increase of chl-a concentration and PC1 also showed a positive correlation but the PC3 has a negative correlation. In conclusion, carbon and phosporous content are the main factors for the increase algae blooms of rice paddy.
The purpose of this study was to probe the influences of NaF oral administration on a dose-effect relationship between fluoride levels of serum enzyme activity such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in rats fed experimental diets for 5 weeks. All groups increased the activity of serum ALP, AST, ALT, and LDH levels with increasing NaF. In addition the fluoride levels of serum and organ tissues (liver, brain, heart, lung, kidney) in oral NaF groups (NF3~NF50) were significantly increased by adding sodium fluoride in comparison with normal diet group (ND) (p<0.05). These results, a high concentration of sodium fluoride was determined that the toxicity to various organ tissues.
Seoullo7017, an elevated linear park, was created to redevelop obsolete road infrastructure as public space, which provides unique landscapes. This study was aimed to evaluate and suggest proper planting design for improving psychological benefits in Seoullo7017. Field survey and simulation experiment were carried out to investigate the user’s perception on the landscapes. Many users had negative feelings of the present landscapes in Seoullo7017, due to concrete pavement and simple planting design using big concrete pots. Landscape simulation experiment showed this perception could change depending on planting design. In especial, herb species played an important role in improving the quality of landscape in a linear park and providing positive feelings such as refreshment, warmth and naturalness. This study suggested that planting design in a linear space needs to be focused rather on the planting style and species than the volume of greens.
This study sought to contribute to the revitalization of local economy by developing a natural recreation forest, which is the base of ecotourism recreation, through utilizing forest resources and the natural environment of Gwangju-si. The study conducted a feasibility assessment through on-site surveys such as the suitability of the candidate sites, location analysis, and possibility of damage to the forest, before developing recreation forest sites in Gwangju-si and, based on the result, selected appropriate subject sites. The candidates for this study were 5 forest sites such as one site in the Mokheon-dong area, two in the Docheok-myeon area, and one in the Toechon-myeon area. For this study, the current status of the natural recreation forest was surveyed, its feasibility index and assessment process were investigated, and the local status and related regulations of Gyeonggi-do and Gwangju-si were reviewed. The final subject sites were selected after feasibility assessment utilizing assessment index in order to evaluate the candidate sites. The feasibility assessment was conducted after three separate on-site surveys for each candidate site between October 2018 and January 2019 utilizing “The Feasibility Assessment Criteria for Natural Recreation Forest (Notification 2018-71)” of the Korean Forest Service. The items instrumental to the feasibility assessment were classified into landscape, location, water system, induction of recreation, and development condition; the assessment was made after redefining each item into detailed items. Through this process, the Usan-ri area was selected as the final site for developing natural recreation forest, having obtained more than 100 points according to “The Feasibility Assessment Criteria for Natural Recreation Forest” of the Korean Forest Service. In order to develop natural recreation forest in the Usan-ri area in the future, further discussion is necessary with the relevant departments in consideration of the degree of ecological zoning map.
This study evaluated the photocatalytic oxidation efficiency of volatile organic compounds by Cu2O -TiO2 under visible-light irradiation. Cu2O-TiO2 was synthesized by an ultrasonic-assisted method. The XRD result indicated successful p-n type photocatalysts. However, no diffraction peaks belonging to TiO2 were observed for the Cu2O-TiO2. The Uv-vis spectra result revealed that the synthesized Cu2O-TiO2 can be activated under visible-light irradiation. The FE-TEM/EDS result showed the formation of synthesized nanocomposites in the commercial P25 TiO2, the undoped TiO2, and Cu2O-TiO2 and componential analysis in the undoped TiO2 and Cu2O-TiO2. The photocatalytic oxidation efficiencies of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene with Cu2O-TiO2 were higher than those of P25 TiO2 and undoped TiO2. These results indicate that the prepared Cu2O-TiO2 photocatalyst can be applied effectively to control gaseous BTEX.
This study investigated the use of a hydroxyl-radicals-generated microbubble/catalyst (MB/Cat) system for removing organic pollutants, nitrogen, and phosphorous from liquid fertilizer produced by livestock wastewater treatment. Use of the MB/Cat system aims to improve the quality of liquid fertilizer by removing pollutants originally found in the wastewater. In addition, a reduction effect has been reported for antibiotics classified as representative non-biodegradable matter. Samples of liquid fertilizer produced by an aerobic biological reactor for swine wastewater treatment were first analyzed for initial concentrations of pollutants and antibiotics. When the MB/Cat system was applied to the liquid fertilizer, TCOD, TOC, BOD5, and NH3-N, and PO4-P removal efficiencies were found to be approximately 52%, 51%, 30%, 21%, and 66%, respectively. Additionally, Amoxicillin hydrate was removed by 10%, and Chlortetracycline HCl and Florfenicol were not present at detectable levels These findings confirm that the MB/Cat system can be used with livestock wastewater treatment to improve liquid fertilizer quality and to process wastewater that is safe for agricultural re-use.
Chrysanthemum boreale Makino (C. boreale) is widely distributed in Asian countries, and has traditionally been used to treat various inflammatory diseases including bronchitis. In this study, we aimed to isolate biologically active compounds from leaves and stems of C. boreale. Chemical components were purified by column chromatograpy and recyclic HPLC, and characterized from their spectral data (IR, MS, NMR). Biological activity experiments were conducted for Farnesyl-protein transferase (FPTase) activity, apoptosis and nitirc oxide (NO) release. As a results, three sesquiterpene lactones were isolated. Compound 1 (4-methoxy-8-O-acetyl-10-hydroxy-2,11(13)-guaiadiene-12,6-olide) showed strong cytotoxic activities having an average growth inhibition of 50% (GI50) value of 1.89 ㎍/㎖against human colon adenocarcinoma cells. Compound 1 also showed a low half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 10 ㎍/㎖ for NO release. In the caspase 3 activity, compound 1 and compound 2 (8-O-(2-carbonyl-2-butyl)-3,10-dihydroxy-4,11(13) -guaiadiene-12,6-olide) exhibited 94% and 90% apoptosis inhibition activity, respectively. Compound 3 (4,8-O-diacetyl -10-hydroxy-2(3),11(13)-guaiadiene-12,6-olide) showed a strong inhibitory effect on FPTase activity with 90% inhibitory activity at a concentration of 100 ㎍/㎖. These results clearly show the presence of lactone compounds in the leaves and stems, which may partially contribute to the pharmacological activity of C. boreale.
Environmental factors and changes in phytoplankton community structure before (August 5, 2017), during (August 18 and 25) and after (August 30 and September 15) freshwater input were analyzed to investigate the effects of freshwater input from Ganwol and Bunam lakes located in the upper part of Cheonsu Bay. Due to the large amount of freshwater input in the Cheonsu Bay, the surface salinity of the bay decreased by more than 8 psu, and the thermocline existing in the bay during August weakened. In addition, hypoxic phenomena occurred temporarily in the bay as the low oxygen water mass from the freshwater lakes flowed into the bay, and chemical oxygen demand, nutrients, and N/P increased with freshwater inflow. The density of phytoplankton during the freshwater inflow increased owing to their input from the freshwater lakes. Diatom species (Eucampia zodiacus) dominated the phytoplankton community in the bay before freshwater input; nanoflagellates, chlorophyta, cyanobacteria, and diatoms (Pseudonitzschia delicatissima, Chateocceros spp.) entered during freshwater input; and after freshwater inflow ended, diatoms (Chateocceros spp.) again became predominant indicating a return to previous conditions. The amount of phytoplankton standing crops increased sharply due to the inflow of freshwater species into the bay on the second day of discharge compared to before freshwater input; pre-discharge conditions were restored at most stations except at some sites close to the Bunam Lake three days after discharge. Therefore, the large amount of freshwater flowing into the bay affects not only the geochemical circulation in the bay but also the phytoplankton community structure. In particular, the high concentration of nutrients in the freshwater lake affect the marine ecosystem of the bay during August.
The aim of this study was to analyze the light traits in a solar light-collector device and its effects on lettuce growth at an early growth stage. The three hyper parameters used were the reflector diameter (2 cm and 4 cm), coating inside the reflector (chrome-coated, non-coated) and distance from the light fiber (15 cm and 20 cm). The results showed that light efficiency, which is the ratio of light intensity inside the fiber to the solar intensity, improved by 41.1 % when using a 2 cm diameter chrome-coated reflector at a distance of 15 cm from the light fiber; whereas it only improved by 20.6% when a non-coated reflector was used. As the reflector size was increased to 4 cm, the light efficiency for the coated and non-coated reflectors increased by 28.5 % and 26.4 %, respectively, hence, no significant difference was observed. When the light fiber was placed at a distance of 20 cm, the increase in light efficiency with coating treatment was 8 % higher than without coating treatment. We also compared the efficiency of light-fiber treatment with that of LED treatment in our lettuce nursery, and observed that the plants exhibited better growth with light-fiber treatment. We observed an average increase of 1.7 cm in leaf height, 7 cm2/plant increase in leaf area, and 32 mm increase in root length upon light-fiber treatment as opposed to those observed with LED treatment. These findings indicate that the collector light-fiber is economically feasible and it improves lettuce growth compared with the LED treatment.
This study aimed to analyze the prioritized area for the functional change of agricultural reservoir according to the rapid urbanization and social changes through the mapping method. Changwon-si, Gimhae-si,(콤마삽입) and Jinju-si in Gyeongnam province were selected as the study area, considering the results of land-use and cluster analysis. As the planning unit of management area, watershed was used and land coverage map from 1975 to 2015 were analyzed for changes of land use. The reduction ratio (%) of farmland was calculated for identifying the changes in 2013 compared to 1975. As a result, the reduction ratio was 11.9% for Changwon-si, 12.2% for Gimhae-si and 9.3% for Jinju-si, and the number of watershed having functionally reduced potential-area was relatively high in the proportion to the city size.
The National Environmental Specimen Bank (NESB) has set up a plan to develop reference materials in the facility for assuring analytical quality and validating analytical methods for its monitoring samples. Some of the crucial characteristics that reference materials must consist of are homogeneity and stability of both intra and inter-bottles. In this study, we examined the homogeneity and stability of cryogenically-milled muscle samples, from Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) for total mercury. Homogeneity was tested using ANOVA analysis and regression analysis was used to test short-term stability. The variations of total mercury concentration did not significantly differ between the intra and the inter-bottle (F=0.8, p=0.37). Additionally, relative standard deviation of the total mercury concentration showed low values (2.28%). For the short-term stability test, total mercury variations were not statistically significant as demonstrated by the result of the regression analysis (F ratio = 3.11, p = 0.18). This suggests that the cryogenic-milling process has statistically proven the degree of homogeneity and short-term stability for samples of carp muscles in the chemical analysis for total mercury.
In this study, the KS A ISO Guide 35 was applied to develop analytical standards for heavy metal cadmium using the Korean mussel (Mytilus coruscus) and to evaluate the homogeneity and stability of the sample. Some of the crucial characteristics that reference materials must consist include homogeneity and stability of both intra- and inter-bottles. We tested homogeneity using ANOVA analysis and short-term stability using regression analysis. The variations of cadmium concentrations did not significantly differ between intra- and inter-bottles (F=0.41, p=0.90). For short-term stability verification, cadmium analysis results were not statistically significant as a result of the regression analysis (significance F=0.51, p=0.53). This suggests that we can not dismiss the null hypothesis that there is no significant variation in concentrations of cadmium over time. These results indicated that the cryogenic-milling process has statistically proven the short-term stability for materials from mussels in the chemical analysis of cadmium. Therefore, we propose that the Korean mussel’s reference material developed for the proficiency test could be used as a tool to evaluate reliability and consistency in laboratories.
To address the increase of weather hazards and the emergence of new types of such hazards, an optimization technique for three-dimensional (3D) representation of meteorological facts and atmospheric information was examined in this study as a novel method for weather analysis. The proposed system is termed as “meteorological and air quality information visualization engine” (MAIVE), and it can support several file formats and can implement high-resolution 3D terrain by employing a 30 m resolution digital elevation model. In this study, latest 3D representation techniques such as wind vector fields, contour maps, stream vector, stream line flow along the wind field and 3D volume rendering were applied. Implementation of the examples demonstrates that the results of numerical modeling are well reflected, and new representation techniques can facilitate the observation of meteorological factors and atmospheric information from different perspectives.