The purpose of this study is to analyze the correlation between ecotoxicity and water quality items using Daphnia magna in public sewage treatment plant process and to obtain operational data to control ecotoxicity through research on removal efficiency. The average value of ecotoxicity was 1.39 TU in the influent, 1.50 TU in the grit chamber, and 0.84 TU in the primary settling tank and it was found that most organic matters, nitrogen, and phosphorus were removed through biological treatment in the bioreactor. Using Pearson’s correlation analysis, the positive correlation was confirmed in the order of ecotoxicity and water quality items TOC, BOD, T-N, NH3-N, SS, EC, and Cu. As a result of conducting a multilinear regression analysis with items representing positive correlation as independent variables, the regression model was found to be statistically significant, and the explanatory power of the regression model was about 81.6%. TOC was found to have a significant effect on ecotoxicity with B=0.009 (p<.001) and Cu with B=16.670 (p<.001), and since the B sign is positive (+), an increase of 1 in TOC increases the value of ecotoxicity by 0.009 and an increase in Cu by 1 increases the value of ecotoxicity by 16.670. TOC (β=0.789, p<.001) and Cu (β=0.209, p<.001) were found to have a significant positive effect on ecotoxicity. TOC and Cu have a great effect on ecotoxicity in the sewage treatment plant process, and it is judged that TOC and Cu should be considered preferentially and controlled in order to efficiently control ecotoxicity.

This research presented the procedural framework of developing and optimizing an artificial intelligence model for predicting the change of bread texture by different baking enhancers. Emphasis was placed on the impact of various baking enhancers on the Mixolab thermo-mechanical properties of wheat flour and consequent alterations in bread texture. The application of baking enhancers positively contributed to dough formation and stability, producing bread with a soft texture. However, a relatively low Pearson correlation coefficient was observed between a single Mixolab parameter and bread texture (r<0.59). To more accurately predict the texture of bread from the thermo-mechanical features of wheat flour with baking enhancers, five AI models (multiple linear regression, decision tree, stochastic gradient descent, random forest, and multilayer perceptron neural network) were applied, and their prediction performance was compared. The multilayer perceptron neural network model was further utilized to enhance the prediction of bread texture by mitigating overfitting risks. Finally, the hyperparameter tuning (activation function [Leaky ReLU], regularization [0.0001], and dropout [0.1]) led to enhanced model performance (R2 = 0.8109 and RMSE = 0.1096).

The present study was performed to investigate the effects of NH3-N and nitrifying microorganisms on the increased BOD of downstream of the Yeongsan river in Gwangju. Water samples were collected periodically from the 13 sampling sites of rivers from April to October 2021 to monitor water qualities. In addition, the trends of nitrogenous biochemical oxygen demand (NBOD) and microbial clusters were analyzed by adding different NH3-N concentrations to the water samples. The monitoring results showed that NH3-N concentration in the Yeongsan river was 22 times increased after the inflow of discharged water from the Gwangju 1st public sewage treatment plant (G-1-PSTP). Increased NH3-N elevated NBOD levels through the nitrification process in the river, consequently, it would attribute to the increase of BOD in the Yeongsan river. Meanwhile, there was no proportional relation between NBOD and NH3-N concentrations. However, there was a significant difference in NBOD occurrence by sampling sites. Specifically, when 5 mg/L NH3-N was added, NBOD of the river sample showed 2-4 times higher values after the inflow of discharged water from G-1-PSTP. Therefore, it could be thought other factors such as microorganisms influence the elevated NBOD levels. Through next-generation sequencing analysis, nitrifying microorganisms such as Nitrosomonas, Nitroga, and Nitrospira (Genus) were detected in rivers samples, especially, the proportion of them was the highest in river samples after the inflow of discharged water from G-1-PSTP. These results indicated the effects of nitrifying microorganisms and NH3-N concentrations as important limiting factors on the increased NBOD levels in the rivers. Taken together, comprehensive strategies are needed not only to reduce the NH3-N concentration of discharged water but also to control discharged nitrifying microorganisms to effectively reduce the NBOD levels in the downstream of the Yeongsan river where discharged water from G-1-PSTP flows.

노루궁뎅이버섯의 국내 야생수집 18 균주와 재배종 ‘노루1호’, ‘노루2호’ 품종의 PDA배지에서 균사체 배양적 특성은 갈색색소생산, 기중균사형, 분지균사형으로 분류되었으며 KFRI 509, KFRI 1091, KFRI 1093, KFRI 1623의 균사생장율이 ‘노루1호’, ‘노루2호’보다 20% 이상 높았다. Ethanol 60%추출물이 페놀함량과 DPPH와 ABTS라디칼 소거능이 농도 의존적으로 가장 높았다. 노루궁뎅이버섯 수집 균주의 항산화활성은 KFRI 507, KFRI 508, KFRI 842, KFRI 1623균주가 재배종 ‘노루1호’, ‘노루2호’와 비교하여 DPPH라디칼 소거능은 농도 의존적으로 10%에서 40% 이상 높았으며 ABTS라디칼 소거능은 추출물 0.125 mg/ml를 기준으로 ‘노루1호’, ‘노루2호’보다 30%에서 60% 이상 높은 활성을 보였다.

Cyanobacteria have been used as pollution indicator species in freshwater ecosystems, and identifying their fluctuations can be an important part about management of surface waters globally. Cyanotoxins produced by cyanobacteria are directly or indirectly a threat to human and environmental health. In order to confirm the potential risk of these cyanotoxins, the fluctuations of phytoplankton and phylogenetic analysis of cyanotoxin synthetase genes were conducted at each point in the Yeongsan River water system in Gwangju from November 2021 to October 2022. Diatoms which grow well in winter were dominant at 99.4 ~ 99.5%, and diatoms and green algae were dominant from the spring to autumn when the water temperature rises. Stephanodiscus spp. were dominant at 92.7 to 97.5 % at all sites in the winter, and Aulacoseira spp., which grow in warm water temperatures, were dominant in summer and autumn. Microcystis aeruginosa was dominant at 25.2% in summer only at site 5. mcyB and anaC have been detected as cyanotoxin synthetase genes. The phylogenetic tree of anaC could be divided into two groups (Group 1 & Group 2). Group 1 contained Aphanizomenon sp. and Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi. It is combined with Aphanizomenon sp. and Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi, which are known to produce cyanotoxins.

This study analyses the characteristics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions from the painting and printing facilities, as well as ambient VOCs at industrial complexes in Gwangju. The major components of VOCs emissions from painting facilities were toluene, acetone, 2-butanone, ethyl acetate, ethyl benzene, o-xylene and m,p-xylene. The printing facilities mostly emitted ethyl acetate, 2-butanone, acetone and toluene. Aromatics (49.9%) and oxygenated VOCs (43.6%) were dominant in painting facilities, while oxygenated VOCs (92.7%) were the largest group in printing facilities. The total hydrocarbon concentration (THC) in printing facilities was approximately six times higher than in the painting facilities. The painting and printing facilities use many solvents. Their THC concentrations differed considerably depending on the type of prevention facilities. To reduce THC, it is necessary to improve the prevention facilities and operating conditions. The dominant species of ambient VOCs in industrial complexes were investigated with toluene, ethyl acetate, 2-butanone, ethyl benzene, m,p-xylene, butyl acetate, o-xylene, hexane and acetone. Factor analysis of ambient VOCs showed that the main sources of the VOCs were organic solvents used in painting, coating, and printing, as well as automobile emissions.