본 연구에서는 청국장 제조 시 고초균(B. subtilis)과 유산균인L. acidophilus균 복합사용이 청국장 품질 특성에 미치는 영향을 연구하였다. 타 장류와 달리, 청국장은 과당중합체와 폴리감마글루탐산의 복합체인 점질물질을 생성한다. 본 연구에서는 일반적인 청국장 발효과정(1차 발효) 후에 설탕(0, 2.5, 7.5%)을 첨가하고 균체외 다당류 생성능이 있는 유산균을 첨가하여 추가적으로 40℃에서 48시간 동안 2차 발효하였다. 2차 발효된 청국장 시료들의 가용성 고형분, 점질물의 신장성, pH, 환원당, 아미노태 질소함량, 암모니아태 질소함량, α-amylase, 및 protease 활성 측정, 이소플라본 함량을 평가하였다. 2차 발효 공정에서 설탕의 추가적인 첨가는 청국장 시료의 pH, 비배당체 이소플라본 함량, 아미노태 질소함량과 protease 활성을 저하시킨 반면, 청국장 점질물의 신장성과 산(acid) 생성 미생물의 생육을 증가시켰다. 결론적으로, 본 연구에서는 청국장 제조 시 B.subtilis과 L. acidophilus균 복합사용이 청국장 점질물질의 생성을 촉진하고 청국장 품질 특성을 변화시킨다는 것을 보여준다.

This study was conducted to investigate the quality characteristics and changes in isoflavone content of Cheonggukjang with added Chaga mushroom by secondary fermentation at 40 for 48 h with or without a starter, Lactobacillus acidophilus KCTC 3925. Cheonggukjang samples were divided into three groups: Control (unsterilized Cheonggukjang fermented without a starter), NS (unsterilized Cheonggukjang inoculated with L. acidophilus KCTC 3925), and YS (heat-sterilized Cheonggukjang inoculated with L. acidophilus KCTC 3925). The approximate composition of the three types of Cheonggukjang was 49.79-51.44% moisture, 4.54-4.72% crude ash, 43.21-44.37% crude protein, 11.58-13.65% crude fat, 37.41-40.07% carbohydrate, 31.92-33.82% dietary fiber. The mineral content included 5.43– 9.64 mg% Na, 1,792.86–1,824.39 mg% K, 253.69–326.09 mg% Ca, 619.37–691.20 mg% P, 92.59–110.59 mg% Fe, and 0.01–0.02 mg%Cd. Free amino acid contents of NS (2,520.92 mg%) and YS (2,421.94 mg%) were significantly higher than that of the control (2,236.76 mg%). Amino-type nitrogen content for the three types of Cheonggukjang ranged from 837.20-920.27 mg% with no significant difference. Ammonia-type nitrogen content ranged from 137.09-169.36 mg%. Supplement of Cheonggukjang with L. acidophilus KCTC 3925 increased production of aglycone isoflavons compared to that of control. Therefore, our results show that fermenting Chaga Cheonggukjang with L. acidophilus KCTC 3925 leads to improved quality characteristics and increased isoflavone aglycone content.

A noble method was developed for determining indoor greenery ratio through a digital camera and image analysis. Photographs with 10 different exposure compensations level were taken at indoor room using the function of “Partial color (green)” in a digital camera under varied indoor light conditions. RGB photographs were converted into Lab mode using [Image/Mode] function of Photoshop software program. The number of green pixels were calculated within 1 to 127 level (equivalent to -127 to -1 of Hunter a* value) through “Channel a” in [Histogram] function of the software. Greenery ratio was calculated by maximum green pixel number of an exposure compensation in relation to total pixel number, as maximum green pixels number would be obtained under a certain exposure compensation level when it minimizes achromatic color by partially excessive lower or higher light condition within certain area of photograph. When greenery ratio obtained from this method was compared with general greenery calculation of green area through manual selection, coefficient of determination was 0.9852, indicating appropriate greenery ratio estimating method. When applied to vertical planter of veranda and office, greenery ratio varied at 0.53～14.96%. In our experimental condition, error of the function, “Partial color” by the digital camera was within 0.013, while the error of the function, “Channel a” by the software was within 0.005.

It is difficult to measure precipitation due to spatial and temporal variability. In this study we analyzed the variability of precipitation of high- and low-rainfall regions in Bangladesh using Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) from the data of two meteorological stations. We compared PCI values for various periods such as annual, supra-seasonal, seasonal, three and two-months. Most previous studies have analyzed the long-term precipitation in Bangladesh. We analyzed the variabilities from long-term to short-term and tried to characterize the irregular precipitation. In the result, the precipitation in Bangladesh was mostly concentrated between two and four months of the year. Future research will require more station data to understand the more detailed precipitation patterns in Bangladesh.

Background : This study was carried out to distribute superior cultivars to farmers by analyzing growth characteristics of ginseng and effectively set the target for breeding by investigating annual agronomic characteristics of ginseng. Methods and Results : As a plant materials, Chunpoong (CP), Yunpoong (YP), Gopoong(GP), Gumpoong (GU) and Sunun (SU) were transplanted in Eumseong (ES), Geumsan (GS) and Yeoncheon (YC) on March 2013. Cultivation and management were conducted on the basis of the standard guidelines. According to stem and petiole by region, YC represent the largest stem diameter, leaf length and petiole length of cultivars, followed by those in ES and those in GS. Leaf growth of cultivars was overall the best in YC. Although CP had long and narrow leaves in all regions, YP and SU had short and narrow leaves. Root weight of all cultivars was the best in YC, but there was no significant differences by them. Growth of CP, YP and GP was generally good in ES. Growth of cultivars was relatively even in GS, but it was poor compared to cultivars which were cultivated in ES and YC. Conclusion : There were considerable differences in root growth of cultivars. However, this results suggest that CP of 4-year-old is produced stably in some regions because it had a small coefficient of variation.

We used a microarray dataset that is deposited in the public database to evaluate plant responses to heat stress and selected two genes, OsSHSP1 (Os03g16030) and OsSHSP2 (Os01g04380), that are highly expressed under heat stress in rice. OsSHSP1 and OsSHSP2 gene transcripts were highly induced in response to salt and drought. In addition, OsSHSP1 and OsSHSP2 gene transcripts were induced under ABA and SA. Subcellular localization of proteins of 35S::OsSHSP1 were associated with the cytosol, whereas those of and 35S::OsSHSP2 were associated with the cytosol and nucleus. Heterogeneous overexpression of both genes exhibited higher germination rates than those of wild-type plants under the salt treatment, but not under heat or drought stress. The network of both genes harboring 9 sHSPs as well as at least 13 other chaperone genes might support the idea of a role for sHSPs in the chaperone network. Our findings might provide clues to shed light on the molecular functions of OsSHSP1 and OsSHSP2 in response to abiotic stresses, especially heat stress.

Astronomical Observations at Chungbuk National University Observatory (CBNUO) with an 1 m telescope have begun since April 2008, and Near-Earth Space Survey observations also have been started since November 2010, with a 0.6 m wide field telescope developed by Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. To improve observational efficiency, we developed a weather monitoring system enabling automatic monitoring for the weather conditions and checking the status of the observational circumstances, such as dome status. We hope this weather monitoring system can be helpful to more than 100 Korean domestic observatories, including public outreach facilities. In this paper, we present the statistic analysis of the weather conditions collected at CBNUO for 3 years (2009- 2011) and comparisons were made for clear nights between using only humidity data and both humidity and cloud data.