In this work, α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals are synthesized by co-precipitation method and used as adsorbent to remove Cr6+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ from wastewater at room temperature. The prepared sample is evaluated by XRD, BET surface area, and FESEM for structural and morphological characteristics. XRD patterns confirm the formation of a pure hematite structure of average particle size of ~ 40 nm, which is further supported by the FESEM images of the nanocrystals. The nanocrystals are found to have BET specific surface area of ~ 39.18 m2 g−1. Adsorption experiments are carried out for the different values of pH of the solutions, contact time, and initial concentration of metal ions. High efficiency Cr6+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ removal occur at pH 3, 7, and 5.5, respectively. Equilibrium study reveals that the heavy metal ion adsorption of the α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals followed Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Cr6+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ adsorption equilibrium data are best fitted to the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals related to Cr6+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ are found to be 15.15, 11.63, and 20 mg g−1, respectively. These results clearly suggest that the synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals can be considered as potential nano-adsorbents for future environmental and health related applications.

This study proposes a method of separating uranium (U) and minor actinides from rare earth (RE) elements in the LiCl-KCl salt system. Several RE metals were used to reduce UCl3 and MgCl2 from the eutectic LiCl-KCl salt systems. Five experiments were performed on drawdown U and plutonium (Pu) surrogate elements from RECl3-enriched LiCl-KCl salt systems at 773 K. Via the introduction of RE metals into the salt system, it was observed that the UCl3 concentration can be lowered below 100 ppm. In addition, UCl3 was reduced into a powdery form that easily settled at the bottom and was successfully collected by a salt distillation operation. When the RE metals come into contact with a metallic structure, a galvanic interaction occurs dominantly, seemingly accelerating the U recovery reaction. These results elucidate the development of an effective and simple process that selectively removes actinides from electrorefining salt, thus contributing to the minimization of the influx of actinides into the nuclear fuel waste stream.

The objective of the present study was to determine the best model to describe and quantify the changes in live body weight, height at withers, height at rump, body length and chest girth of Holstein cows raised under Korean feeding conditions for 50 months. The five standard growth models namely polynomial linear regression models, regression of growth variables on the first and second-order of ages in days (model 1) and regression of growth variables on age covariates from first to the third-order (model 2) as well as non-linear models were fitted and evaluated for representing growth pattern of Holstein cows raised in Korean feeding circumstances. Nonlinear models fitted were three exponential growth curve models; Brody, Gompertz, and von Bertalanffy functional models. For this purpose, a total of 22 Holstein cows raised in Korea used in the period from April 2016 to May 2020. Each model fitted to monthly growth curve records of dairy cows by using PROC NLIN procedure in SAS program. On the basis of the results, nonlinear models showed the lower root mean square of error (RMSE) for live body weight, height at withers, height at rump, body length and chest girth (12.22, 1.95, 1.55, 4.04, 2.06) with higher correlation coefficiency (R2) values for live body weight, height at withers, height at rump, body length and chest girth (0.99, 0.99, 0.99, 1.00, 1.00). Overall, the evaluation of the different growth models indicated that the Gompertz model used in the study seemed to be the most appropriate one for standard growth of Holstein cows raised under Korean feeding system.

In this study, antibody responses after vaccination against equine influenza were investigated among 1,591 horses in the Republic of Korea using the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. Equine influenza has not occurred since 2011 and a commercial vaccine against H3N8 has been used. The equine influenza virus, A/equine/South Africa/4/03 (H3N8), was used as the antigen in the HI assay. The mean seropositive rate was 90.5% in 2019. Except for stallion whose seropositive rate was 78.5%, all seropositive rates of other horse types were over 90%. Regionally, except for Gangwon-do and Jeju-do whose seropositive rates were 89.0% and 87.1%, all seropositive rates in other provinces were over 90%. In the future, more through vaccination against equine influenza needs to be done based on this investigation result.

ETc 손실을 보상하는데 필요한 물의 양을 작물 용수 요구량(Crop water requirement, CWR)로 정의되며, ETc 평가는 작물 필요 요구량을 정확하게 정량화하는 데 필요하며, 물 균형 계산에서 중요한 역할을 한다. 토마토와 파프 리카의 실제 관수 요구량(Actual crop water, ACW)이 적절한 CWR인지 평가하였다. 토마토와 파프리카 재배에 적정한 AWC 예측 및 추정을 위하여 온실 내부 환경데이터를 Penman-Monteith을 이용하여 기준 작물 증발산(ET)을 계산한 후, 기준 증발산은 작물 상수(Kc;토마토-1.15, 파프리카-1.05)계수로 조정하였다. 토마토와 파프리카의 CWR과 ACW를 계산하여 비교 평가한 결과 ACW가 CWR을 대체할 수 있지만 파프리카의 ACW는 필요 이상으로 높게 나타났다. 또한, 토마토의 ACW는 1일 100 ~ 1,200 ml이고, 파프리카의 ACW는 1일 100 ~ 500 ml가 적절한 것으로 나타났다. 그러나, 스마트 온실에서 ETc의 정밀도를 높이려면, ETc가 CWR로 변환되고 ACW와 비교하기 위해서 클래스 A팬 설정이 필요하다. 향후 실시간으로 CWR을 측정하기 위한 시뮬레이션 프로그램 연구가 필요하다.

We report the performance of the 13.7-meter Taeduk Radio Astronomy Observatory (TRAO) radio telescope. The telescope has been equipped with a new receiver, SEQUOIA-TRAO, a new backend system, FFT2G, and a new VxWorks operating system. The receiver system features a 16-pixel focal plane array using high-performance MMIC preamplifiers; it shows very low system noise levels, with system noise temperatures from 150 K to 450 K at frequencies from 86 to 115 GHz. With the new backend system, we can simultaneously obtain 32 spectra, each with a velocity coverage of 163 km s−1 and a resolution of 0.04 km s−1 at 115 GHz. The new operating system, VxWorks, has successfully handled the LMTMC-TRAO observing software. The main observing method is the on-the-fly (OTF) mapping mode; a position-switching mode is available for small-area observations. Remote observing is provided. The antenna surface has been newly adjusted using digital photogrammetry, achieving a rms surface accuracy better than 130 µm. The pointing uncertainty is found to be less than 5'' over the entire sky. We tested the new receiver system with multi-frequency observations in OTF mode. The aperture efficiencies are 43±1%, 42±1%, 37±1%, and 33±1%, the beam efficiencies are 45±2%, 48±2%, 46±2%, and 41±2% at 86, 98, 110, and 115 GHz, respectively.