Since rice is the main food in Korea, there are no regulations on corn milling yet. Corn is known as one of the world's top three food crops along with wheat and rice, and it is known that 3.5 billion people worldwide use corn for food. In addition, corn mills are not developed or sold in Korea, but the use of corn mills is increasing significantly in many countries in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, as Korea's rice mill import increases, Korea's KAMICO (Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative) and domestic company A agreed to develop a corn mill jointly with PHilMech, an organization affiliated with the Philippine Ministry of Agriculture. However, research on corn milling was very insignificant, so the development was carried out based on the technology of Korea's rice mill. Rice milling is performed by peeling off the skin of rice and producing brown or white rice, so it is carried out by removing the skin and cutting the skin. On the other hand, in the corn mill, the skin of the corn is peeled, pulverized and selected to produce main products suitable for edible use. Therefore, in order to develop a corn mill, processes such as peeling, transfer, grinding, sorting, and by-product separation are required, and suitable parts must be developed. In addition, the performance must be gradually improved through experiments in which corn is repeatedly milled. The Philippines produces 7.98 million tons/year of corn, which is about 100 times that of Korea, and is mostly consumed as a staple food. This is about 10% of the total crop production in the Philippines. In addition, the main cultivation complexes of corn are the mountainous regions of Tarlac or Pangasinan, and the produced corn is 72.4% of the so-called yellow corn called Arabel and Sarangani, and the remaining 27.6% are known as white corn. In this study, it was intended to produce grains of 2.5 mm or less suitable for food for yellow corn and to develop a corn mill for 200 kg per hour. Detailed conditions for development are stipulated as more than 55% of the main product recovery rate, more than 31% of the by-product recovery rate, less than 5% of the raw material loss rate, and more than 80% of the embryo dislocation rate. In this study, to achieve this, the overall process of the corn mill was developed, and the optimal conditions for the corn mill were obtained through the development of parts and empirical tests to improve performance. In addition, it was intended to achieve the development goal by evaluating and analyzing the performance of each part so that it did not conflict.

Hypertension is characterized by excessive renin-angiotensin system activity, leading to blood vessel constriction. Several synthetic compounds have been developed to inhibit renin and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). These drugs often have adverse side effects, driving the exploration of plant protein-derived peptides as alternative or supplementary treatments. This study assessed the phenolic compound and amino acid content and the antioxidant and antihypertensive activity of 5 South Korean staple crops. Sorghum had the highest phenolic compound content and exhibited the highest antioxidant activity. Millet grains, particularly finger millet (38.86%), showed higher antihypertensive activity than red beans (14.42%) and sorghum (17.16%). Finger millet was found to contain a large proportion of branched-chain, aromatic, and sulfur-containing amino acids, which are associated with ACE inhibition. In particular, cysteine content was positively correlated with ACE inhibition in the crops tested (r=0.696, p<0.01). This study confirmed that the amino acid composition was more correlated with the antihypertensive activity of grains than the phenolic compound content. Finger millet mainly contained amino acids, which have higher ACE inhibitory activity, resulting in the strongest antihypertensive activity. These findings underscore the antihypertensive potential of select crops as plant-based food ingredients, offering insight into their biological functions.

본 연구에서는 한국산 미기록속인 이마줄불청객파리속(신칭)과 미기록종인 작은눈이마줄불청객파리(신칭)를 처음으로 보고한다. 우리는 이 종이 포식성 거미의 섭식과정에 관여하는 phoretic relationship의 습성을 갖는 것을 확인하였다. 이 종의 성충에 대한 기재문과 사진 및 DNA바 코드 서열을 제공한다.

Air conditioner filters purify the air of indoor environments by removing air pollutants and supporting the efficiency of the unit’s cooling function. However, an air conditioner filter can become a microenvironment in which some fungi can grow as dust continues to accumulate and favorable humidity conditions are formed. Fungal growth in air conditioner filters could lead to fungal allergies or fungal diseases, in addition to emitting a foul odor. In an effort to understand what species causes this malodorous problem, we investigated the diversity of fungi found in air conditioners. Fungi were sampled from the collected air conditioner filters and grown on DG18 agar media. After purification for pure isolates, species identification was undertaken. Colony morphology was observed on PDA, MEA, CYA, and OA media. Microstructures of fruiting body, mycelia, and spores were examined using a light microscope. Molecular identification was performed by PCR and sequencing of PCR amplicons, and molecular phylogenetic analysis of sequenced DNA markers, including the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS), the 28S large subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (LSU rDNA), the β-tubulin (BenA) gene, the Calmodulin (CaM) gene, and the DNA-directed RNA polymerase II subunit 2 (RPB2) gene. Through this identification process, we found two fungal species, Aspergillus miraensis and Dichotomopilus ramosissimus, which are unrecorded species in Korea. We will now report their morphological and molecular features.

One of the important components of a nuclear fuel cycle facility is a hot cell. Hot cells are engineered robust structures and barriers, which are used to handle radioactive materials and to keep workers, public, and the environment safe from radioactive materials. To provide a confinement function for these hot cells, it is necessary to maintain the soundness of the physical structure, but also to maintain the negative pressure inside the hot cell using the operation of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The negative pressure inside the hot cells allows air to enter from outside hot cells and limits the leakage of any contaminant or radioactive material within the hot cell to the outside. Thus, the HVAC system is one of the major components for maintaining this negative pressure in the hot cell. However, as the facility ages, all the components of the hot cell HVAC system are also subject to age-related deterioration, which can cause an unexpected failure of some parts. The abnormal operating condition from the failure results in the increase of facility downtime and the decrease in operating efficiency. Although some major parts are considered and constructed in redundancy and diversity aspects, an unexpected failure and abnormal operating condition could result in reduction of public acceptance and reliability to the facility. With the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution, prognostics and health management (PHM) technology is advancing at a rapid pace. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Siemens, and other companies have already developed technologies to constantly monitor the integrity of power plants and are applying the technology in the form of digital twins for efficiency and safety of their facility operation. The main point of PHM, based on this study, is to monitor changes and variations of soundness and safety of the operation and equipment to analyze current conditions and to ultimately predict the precursors of unexpected failures in advance. Through PHM, it would be possible to establish a maintenance plan before the failure occurs and to perform predictive maintenance rather than corrective maintenance after failures of any component. Therefore, it is of importance to select appropriate diagnostic techniques to monitor and to diagnose the condition of major components using the constant examination and investigation of the PHM technology. In this study, diagnostic techniques are investigated for monitoring of HVAC and discussed for application of PHM into nuclear fuel cycle facilities with hot cells.

The thermal treatment of radioactive waste attracts great attention. The thermal treatment offers lots of advantages, such as significant volume reduction, hazard reduction, increase of disposal safety, etc. There are various thermal technologies to waste. The developed technologies are calcination, incineration, melting, molten salt oxidation, plasma, pyrolysis, synroc, vitrification, etc. The off-gas treatment system is widely applied in the technologies to increase the safety and operation efficiency. The thermal treatment generates various by-product and pollutants during the process. The dust or fly ash are generated as a particulate from almost every radioactive waste. The treatment of PVC related components generates hydrogen chloride, which usually brings corrosion of facility. The treatment of rubber and spent resin generates sulfur oxide, SOx. The treatment of nitrile rubber generates nitrogen oxide, NOx. The incomplete combustion of radioactive waste usually generates carbon oxide, COx. The process temperature also affects the generation of off gas, such as NOx and/or COx. Various off gas treatment components are organized for the proper treatment of the previously mentioned materials. In this study systematical review on off gas treatment will be reported. Also, worldwide experiences and developed facility will be reported.

The primary purpose of high temperature process of radioactive waste is to satisfy the waste acceptance criteria and volume reduction. The WAC offers the guideline of waste form fabrication process. The WAC is defined as quantitative or qualitative criteria specified by the regulatory body, or specified by and operator and approved by the regulatory body, for radioactive waste to be accepted by the operator of a repository for disposal, or by the operator of a storage facility for storage. The main objective of WAC is to protect staff and general public and environment by the containment of radioactive material, limit external radiation level, and prevent criticality. The WAC also offers systematic management of radioactive waste by standardization of waste management operations, facilitation waste tracking, ensure safe and effective operation of operating facilities, etc. Since the high temperature process for radioactive waste is considered in many countries, lots of codes and standards are considered. In many WACs, compressive strength, thermal cycle stability, radiation exposure stability, free liquid, and leachability are evaluation to understand the effect of solidified form to the disposal facility. In this paper, systematical review on waste form will be discussed. In addition, brief result of characterization of waste form will be compared.

During the operation of nuclear power plant (NPP), the concentrates and spent resin are generated. They show relatively high radioactivity compared to other radioactive waste, such as dry active waste, charcoals, and concrete wastes. The waste acceptance criteria (WAC) of disposal facility defines the structure and property of treated waste. The concentrates and spent resin should be solidified or packaged in high integrity container (HIC) to satisfy the WAC in Korea. The Kori NPP has stored history waste. The large concrete package with solidified concentrates and spent resin. The WAC requires identification of 18 properties for the radioactive waste. Since some of the properties are not clearly identified, the large concrete packages could not satisfy the WAC in this moment. The generation of the large concrete package (rectangular type and cylindrical type), pretreatment of the package, treatment of inner drum, process development for clearance waste, etc. will be discussed in this paper. In addition, the conceptual design of whole treatment process will be discussed.

Safeguards systems and measures are determined through diversion scenario analysis based on the facility design information submitted to the IAEA when a new nuclear facility is introduced. While the concept of safeguards-by-design (SBD), which considers the safeguards from the design phase for a facility operator to minimize unplanned changes or disruption to facility operations as well as for the IAEA to increase the efficiency and effectiveness in safeguards implementation, has been emphasized for more than a decade, there is no practical tool or guidance on how to apply it. In this study, we develop a diversion path analysis tool and introduce how to apply SBD using it. A diversion path analysis tool was developed based on the elements that constitute diversion and the algorithm generated based on the initial information of facility and nuclear material flow. The results of utilizing the analysis tool depending on a different level of facility information and the safeguards set-ups were compared through examples. Taking a typical light water reactor as an example, the test analyzed the automatic generation of dedicated routes, configuration of safeguards measures, and diversion path analysis. Through this, the application and limitations of the analysis tool are discussed, and ideas for utilization according to the SBD concept and necessary regulatory guidance are proposed. The results of this study are expected to be directly utilized to domestic nuclear control during the regulation process for a construction of new nuclear power systems, and furthermore, to enhance national credibility in the engagement with the IAEA for implementation of safeguards.

We analyzed comparatively the ground beetle communities of 1993 and 2023, with 30 year interval, in broadleaf and coniferous stands of the Gwangneung forest, a biosphere reserve in South Korea. 2,906 individuals (53 species, 38 genera, and 15 families) were collected from broadleaf stands and 1,782 individuals (36 species, 32 genera, and 14 families) from coniferous stands in 1993. The dominant species was Synuchus cycloderus in both stands. In 2023, 1,682 individuals (110 species, 78 genera, 21 families) were collected from broadleaf stands and 990 individuals (92 species, 67 genera, 22 families) from coniferous stands. In 2023, the dominant species were Eucarabus (Parhomopterus) sternbergi sternbergi in broadleaf stands and Coptolabrus jankowskii jankowskii in coniferous stands. Species richness (R'), species evenness (E'), species diversity (H'), and dominance (DI) were all higher than in broadleaf (R'=15.472, E'=0.336, H'=1.601, and DI=0.371) and coniferous (R'=13.756, E'=0.369, H'=1.324, and DI=0.326) forests in 2023.

Until now, in case of Palaearctic region, only one species, Nesendaeus monochrous in this genus was recorded from China. but the biology and life cycle are not clearly known, yet. This species collected from the bud of Glochidion chodoense in Korea for the first time and closely related to Heterochyromera imerodeus Kojima & Morimoto which was recorded only in Japan,. But Nesendaeus monochrous is easily distinguishable from H. imerodeus by the relatively longer elytra with bisinuately round apices. Heterochyromera imerodeus Kojima & Morimoto can be found from Eurya emarginata and Glochidion obovatum in Japan. So, this two species are closely related each other and need more taxonomic study about the generic synonymy or changing the generic position.

Curtonotidae, known as the quasimodo flies, in Diptera currently includes about 100 described species in five genera (Axinota Wulp, 1886; Curtonotum Macquart, 1844; Cyrtona Séguy, 1938; Depressonotum Grimaldi & Kirk-Spriggs, 2012; Tigrisomyia Kirk-Spriggs, 2010) worldwide. Curtonotid species have great potential as case studies for biological diversity, evolution, and zoogeography based on wide distribution and sufficient diversity. In the present study, Curtonotum maritimum Ozerov, 2007 is newly added to Korean insect fauna. This is also the first record of Curtonotidae from the country. We here provide morphological diagnosis and images including genitalic structures for accurate identification.

Milichiidae Schiner, 1862 is a small family of Diptera, with 19 genera and 360 described species worldwide. In Korea, only two species in a single genus, Aldrichiomyza Hendel, 1914, have been recorded. Milichiid species, small-sized acalyptrate flies, are generally associated with decaying plants and animals. In particular, Desmometopa Loew, 1866 in the family has a commensalistic habit, more precisely the phoretic relationship, that has been observed with predacious insects and spiders, in which adults feed on the juices of the prey. In this study, we recognized Desmometopa microps Lamb, 1914 for the first time in the Korean Peninsula. This is also the first record of the genus from the country. Herein, we provide diagnosis of D. microps based on the Korean specimens with images.

Necrophila (Calosilpha) brunnicollis brunnicollis (Kraatz, 1877) is a common necrophagous beetle in the Palaearctic region. The species is often encountered on the corpses of large vertebrates, such as human and pig, and is well recognized as a potentially group of beetles in forensic entomology. All of the developmental stages can be found in the corpse and under the soil near a corpse, which can be used to reconstruct the site, such as estimating PMI(Postmortem interval). However, its larval instar stages were never thoroughly described for identification. In this study, we redescribe the morphological characters of all larval stages of N. brunnicollis for quantitative and qualitative morphological information. In addition, we provide the images of larvae and an indentrifiaction key to larval instars.

The genus Silpha Linnaeus, 1758 in Silphinae includes 33 species worldwide. This group is flightless and known to feed on invertebrate carcasses from the ground surface. In South Korea, 3 species have been recorded, and S. koreana Cho& Kwon, 1999 is an endemic species, distributed only Mt. Taebaek and Mt. Mindung. Up to date the immature stages of the species has never been studied although the species has significant value as an endemic species. The present study is the very first one ever conducted describing the larval morphological characters of S. koreana along with images of larval stages. Furthermore, we report observations on developmental lengths for each stages of the species.

In this study, an experiment was conducted on the domestic cultivar 'White and Cool' on a farm in Taean to compare the effects of conventional soil cultivation and net cultivation to increase yield and reduce labor input time during outdoor gladiolus cultivation. The above- and below-ground growth, yield, and input labor time were investigated after cultivating half of the seedlings using the conventional cultivation method and the other half using the net cultivation method. There was no difference in the above- or below-ground growth between net cultivation and conventional cultivation. However, the labor input time decreased 2.57 times, the yield of the irrigated area increased by 3%, and the self-fertilization yield increased by 28%. Based on these results, several factors should be considered during net cultivation. First, loose netting should be used for root development. Second, care should be taken while flattening when planting seedlings, and after sowing, the area should be covered with a net to prevent drying. Third, after completion of the installation, compaction should be performed to ensure close contact between the soil and netting, and after removing the space between the nets, the seedlings should be irrigated to induce early rooting.

This study was aimed to isolate bacterial inoculants producing chitinase and evaluate their application effects on corn silage. Four corn silages were collected from four beef cattle farms to serve as the sources of bacterial inoculants. All isolates were tested against Fusarium graminearum head blight fungus MHGNU F132 to confirm their antifungal effects. The enzyme activities (carboxylesterase and chitinase) were also measured to isolate the bacterial inoculant. Based on the activities of anti-head blight fungus, carboxylesterase, and chitinase, L. buchneri L11-1 and L. paracasei L9-3 were subjected to silage production. Corn forage (cv. Gwangpyeongok) was ensiled into a 10 L mini silo (5 kg) in quadruplication for 90 days. A 2 × 2 factorial design consists of F. graminearum contamination at 1.0104 cfu/g (UCT (no contamination) vs. CT (contamination)) and inoculant application at 2.1 × 105 cfu/g (CON (no inoculant) vs. INO (inoculant)) used in this study. After 90 days of ensiling, the contents of CP, NDF, and ADF increased (p<0.05) by F. graminearum contamination, while IVDMD, acetate, and aerobic stability decreased (p<0.05). Meanwhile, aerobic stability decreased (p<0.05) by inoculant application. There were interaction effects (p<0.05) on IVNDFD, NH3-N, LAB, and yeast, which were highest in UCT-INO, UCT-CON, CT-INO, and CT-CON & INO, respectively. In conclusion, this study found that mold contamination could negatively impact silage quality, but isolated inoculants had limited effects on IVNDFD and yeast.

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of about 12.3 years, and it is commonly found in the environment as a result of the production of Nuclear Power Plants. The World Health Organization (WHO) has established guidelines for the permissible levels of tritium in drinking water. The guideline value for tritium in drinking water is 10,000 Bq/L. It is important to note that the guideline value for tritium is not a legal limit, but rather a recommendation. National and local authorities may establish legal limits that are more restrictive than the WHO guideline value based on local conditions and risk assessments. The Australia and Finland have set a limit for tritium in drinking water at 76,103 Bq/L and 30,000 Bq/L respectively, which is more than three to seven times higher compare to guideline value of WHO. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for tritium in drinking water at 20,000 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), which is equivalent to 740 Bq/L. The Health Canada has set a guideline value for tritium in drinking water at 7,000 Bq/L. Assuming drinking water corresponding to each tritium limit (or guideline value) for one year, the expected exposure dose is 0.01 mSv to 1 mSv. It means that the tritium in drinking water below the limits or guideline value does not pose a significant risk to human health.

The segmentation of activated components is considered as a one of the most important processes in decommissioning. The activated components, such as reactor vessel and reactor vessel internals, are exposed to neutron from the nuclear fuel and classified to intermediate, low, and very low-level wastes. As it is expected, the components, which are closed to nuclear fuel, exhibit higher degree of specific activity. After the materials were exposed to neutrons, their original elements transform to other nuclides. The primary nuclides in activated stainless steel are 55Fe, 63,59Ni, 60Co, 54Mn, etc. The previous study indicates that the specific activity of individual nuclide is strongly depends on the material compositions and impurities of the original materials. The 59Co is the one of the most important impurities in stainless steel and carbon steel. In this paper, the relationship between individual nuclides in activation analysis of activated components was studied. The systematic study on specific activity of primary nuclides will be discussed in this paper to understand the activation tendency of the components.

To evaluate the safeguards system or performance in a facility, it is crucial to analyze the diversion path for nuclear materials. However, diversion paths can range from the extremely simplified to the complicated depending on the level of knowledge and the specific person conducting the analysis. This study developed the diversion path analysis tools using an event tree and fault tree method to generating diversion paths systematically. The essential components of the diversion path were reviewed, and a logical flow was developed for systematically creating the diversion path. An algorithm was created based on the facility design components and logical flow, as well as the initial information of the nuclear materials and material flows. The event tree and fault tree analysis tools were used to test the path generation algorithm. The usage and limitations of these two logic methods are discussed, and ideas to incorporate the logic algorithm into practical program tools are suggested. The tests were analyzed on a typical light water reactor as an example, including automatic generation of dedicated pathways, configuration of safeguards measures, and analyzing paths with strategies for avoiding safeguard systems. The results led to the development of a draft pathway analyzer program that can be applied to general nuclear systems. The results of this study will be used to develop a program module that can systematically generate diversion paths using the event tree and fault tree method. It can help to guide and provide practical tools for implementing SBD.