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.

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.

The development of existing radioactive waste (RI waste) management technologies has been limited to processing techniques for volume reduction. However, this approach has limitations as it does not address issues that compromise the safety of RI waste management, such as the leakage of radioactive liquid, radiation exposure, fire hazards, and off-gas generation. RI waste comes in various forms of radioactive contamination levels, and the sources of waste generation are not fixed, making it challenging to apply conventional decommissioning and disposal techniques from nuclear power plants. This necessitates the development of new disposal facilities suitable for domestic use. Various methods have been considered for the solidification of RI waste, including cement solidification, paraffin solidification, and polymer solidification. Among these, the polymer solidification method is currently regarded as the most suitable material for RI waste immobilization, aiming to overcome the limitations of cement and paraffin solidification methods. Therefore, in this study, a conceptual design for a solidification system using polymer solidification was developed. Taking into account industrial applicability and process costs, a solidification system using epoxy resin was designed. The developed solidification system consists of a pre-treatment system (fine crush), solidification system, cladding system, and packing system. Each process is automated to enhance safety by minimizing user exposure to radioactive waste. The cladding system was designed to minimize defects in the solidified material. Based on the proposed conceptual design in this paper, we plan to proceed with the specific design phase and manufacture performance testing equipment based on the basic design.

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.

The Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (KOLAS) is the national accreditation body responsible for providing accreditation services to testing and calibration laboratories. The primary objective of KOLAS is to promote the quality and reliability of laboratory testing by providing nationally and internationally recognized accreditation services. Laboratories accredited by KOLAS are required to meet rigorous international standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and are subject to regular assessments to ensure ongoing compliance with the standards. KOLAS accreditation is highly regarded both domestically and internationally, and is recognized for providing high-quality and reliable testing services. The nuclear analysis laboratory at KINAC has been working to establish a quality management system to ensure the external reliability of analytical results and to secure its position as an authorized testing agency. To achieve this, a detailed manual and procedure for nuclear material analysis were developed to conform to the international standards of ISO/IEC 17025. This study presents the preparation process for establishing the management system, focusing on meeting technical and quality requirements for the implementation of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard in the KINAC nuclear analysis laboratory, specifically in the field of chemical testing (dosimetry, radioactive, and neutron measurement subcategories). The preparation process involved two tracks. The first track focused on satisfying technical requirements, with Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) selected as the major equipment for analysis. Analytical methods for determining isotope ratios and concentrations of nuclear materials were determined, and technical qualification was ensured through participation in proficiency test programs, inter-experimenter comparison tests, and uncertainty reports. The second track focused on developing the quality system, including quality manuals, procedures, and guidelines based on the requirements of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard. Various implementation documents were produced during the six-month pilot period, in accordance with the three levels of documents required by the standard. Implementation of ISO/IEC 17025 is expected to have a systematic quality management process for the analysis lab’s operations and to increase confidence in KINAC’s nuclear analysis.

본 연구는 SAP를 국화(Chrysanthemum morifolium) 분화 생산에 활용하고 SAP의 혼합 비율에 따른 물 사용량과 국화 의 생육을 비교하고자 수행하였다. SAP를 배지의 부피비인 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2%로 섞었으며 각각의 처리구는 토양수분함 량 0.50m3･m-3로 일정하게 유지시켰다. 국화의 성장은 초장, 초폭, 뿌리 길이, 개화소요일수를 조사하였다. SAP 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2% 처리구에 따르면 식물체의 초장, 초폭, 생체중은 처리구간에 유의한 차이가 없었다. 그러나 지하부 건물중에서 는 0.2% SAP 처리가 대조구보다 유의하게 높았다. 실험 기간 동안 SAP의 혼합 비율에 따라 사용되는 관수량에는 상당한 차이가 있었다. 관수량은 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2% SAP 처리에서 각각 43.5, 37.2, 30.1, 29.4L이었다. 결론적으로 동일한 토 양수분조건하에서 SAP의 양에 따른 국화의 생육에는 차이가 없었으나, SAP를 통해 토양의 보수력을 향상시켜 사용되는 물의 양을 크게 줄일 수 있었다.

Background: The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympic Games (WPG) being one of the most successful Paralympic Games (PG) in modern athletic world history, hosted the largest number of elite athletes representing 49 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs). Objects: The present investigation highlighted the demographic and clinical characteristics of injured athletes and non-athletes and the physiotherapy services provided during the PyeongChang 2018 WPG. Methods: Prospective descriptive epidemiology study, in which the study group comprised of 201 participants (51 athletes and 150 non-athletes) who were admitted to and utilized the polyclinic physiotherapy service of 2018 PyeongChang WPG in Physiotherapy Department of Paralympic Village from March 1, 2018 to March 20, 2018. Results: Qualitative frequency analysis of injury type demonstrated highest number of chronic injuries (51%, n = 100) in athletes and non-athletes. Anatomical injury site analysis revealed that the spine and shoulder areas were affected with equal frequency for athletes (54.9%, n = 14), whereas for non-athletes, the frequencies of spine and shoulder area injuries were 36.7% (n = 55) and 26% (n = 39), respectively. The Pyeongchang WPG showed a high rate of athletes visiting the physiotherapy service during the pre-competition period (33.3%, n = 50), which may have led to smaller incidence rate of traumatic injury. The physiotherapy treatment service analysis demonstrated that manual therapy (35.4%, n = 230) was most commonly utilized, followed by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation/interference current therapy (TENS/ICT), therapeutic massage and therapeutic exercise. Conclusion: We established the importance of prophylactic and preventive physiotherapy services to reduce the risk of sports injuries during WPG.

Colorectal cancer causes the most cancer-associated death worldwide, having a high cancer incidence. Pectin is a complex polysaccharide present in various fruits, emerging as an anti-carcinogenic candidate. Although pectin has a suppressive capacity for colon carcinogenesis, the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and colonic aberrant foci formation in the colon carcinogenesis mouse model remains unclear. Therefore, this study investigates the regulatory effect of pectin supplementation on colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in mice. In an animal experiment, thirty male institute for cancer research (ICR) mice were divided into two experimental groups; AOM/DSS (control group) and AOM/DSS + pectin (5% in drinking water). Furthermore, the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and aberrant crypt (AC) on colonic mucosa were counted, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay was performed to estimate lipid peroxidation in feces. Pectin treatment significantly decreased the number of ACF and AC per colon compared with the control. Additionally, fecal TBARS level in the pectin group was significantly lower than those in the control group. Conclusively, these findings indicate that pectin-inhibited hyperplastic alteration and oxidative stress suppress colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis.