This study was conducted to report the census survey results of south Korean Chikso (Korean Brindle Cattle) distribution and to diagnose the current coat color expression patterns. Two years Chikso census showed that there were 2,413 Chikso in 2013 and 2,754 in 2014 in south Korea. Number of animals between 0 to 35 months of age was 1,632 heads in 2014 which comprised 59% of total Chikso population size. The percentages of animals between 36 ~ 71 months of age and over 6 years of age were 31% and 10% of total. Out of 2,416 animals with class numbers assessed by their coat colors, 1,249 heads (52%) were in group I (with black stripes, class no. 1 ~ 3) and the others (class no. 4 ~ 7) were in group II (1,167 heads, 48%). Among the 1,551 animals that were photographed twice in 2013 and in 2014, 226 animals were assessed different coat color class numbers, and round 90% of which were within the ages less than 48 months. The number of animals switched in coat color pattern groups over a year was 56, which was 3.6% of total number of animals on survey. And around 88% of the animals switched in group category was of the animals younger than 24 months of age. Therefore, we conclude that the coat color pattern becomes rather stable at around 24 months of age in Chikso populaion in south Korea.

Silver nano-particles, that were either attached on granular activated carbon or dispersed in a liquid solution, were applied to investigate the removal efficiency of airborne bacteria. The antibacterial experiments were performed by changing the gas residence time in a GAC filtration column and a scrubber module. The GAC filter experiment showed that the antibacterial efficiency declined with time at a gas residence time (RT) of 0.02 second, and the bacterial quantity in the outlet of the column exceeded that of the inlet after 30 hours of operation. However, when using Ag-GAC, the removal efficiency was higher than that of the GAC, and it was maintained over a 3-day period. The experiment results at different gas RTs of 3, 1.5 and 0.5 seconds also showed that Ag-GAC had higher antibacterial efficiencies. The low antibacterial efficiency at a short RT indicates that a careful consideration needs to be implemented for the design of indoor air purification devises. In the scrubber experiment using distilled water, a removal efficiency of 50% was observed initially; however, it declined gradually and the outlet bacterial quantity was even higher than that of the inlet. This result was mainly due to the accumulation of bacteria in the recirculating solution. Contrarily, another scrubber experiment using silver nano-particle solution showed that an antibacterial efficiency of 66% was maintained over a 3-day period. Silver nano-particles were able to minimize the growth of microorganisms in the spray solution, and it resulted in an improved and stable efficiency for the airborne bacterial control.

Recently, a bioactive foam reactor (BFR) using a surfactant and suspended microorganisms has been suggested as an suitable alternative to conventional packed-bed biofilters. This study was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of applying the BFR using styrene as a model compound and investigate the effect of the gas residence time on mass transfer and biodegradation rates. At a gas residence time of 40 seconds, the BFR achieved high styrene removal efficiencies greater than 80%, but the biodegradation rate controlled the overall efficiency as the styrene inlet concentration increased. Meanwhile, at a gas residence time of 20 seconds, the change of the styrene removal efficiency was less sensitive to the inlet styrene concentration, indicating the BFR system was operated under the mass transfer limited condition. Therefore, the mass transfer rate needs to balance with the biodegradation rate in the BFR system, and the foam stability had a significant effect on the mass transfer. In the BFR, the maximum elimination capacity was found to be 117 g/㎥/hr, which was higher than those reported in the literature. This finding indicates that the BFR can be an efficient method for the treatment of various VOCs and expand an application range of biological processes.