Development of an analytical protocol for detecting antibiotic residues in various foods

Medicines such as antibiotics and hormones have been widely used for treating diseases in animals. As more antibiotics are needed to prevent various diseases that occur, not only in domestic animals, but also in imported livestock, a quick and robust analytical method is required for detecting antibiotic residues. In this study, agricultural and fishery products, including beef (n = 148), pork (n = 78), chicken (n = 88), eel (n = 70), flatfish (n = 17), armorclad rockfish (n = 18), sea bream (n = 18), perch (n = 18), and oyster (n = 4) were obtained from local markets in different areas of Korea. A total of 13 antibiotics, including tetracycline, macrolide, penicillin, aminoglycoside, polyester, peptide, and chloramphenicol types, were analyzed by a microbial assay and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In the microbial assay, 34 of the 459 screened samples had possible antibiotic residues. The antibiotic concentrations of the 34 samples were analyzed using HPLC with UV and fluorescence detection. The levels of oxytetracycline in pork and eel were 0.01 and 0.05 mg/kg, respectively. In eel and oyster, the concentrations of ampicillin were 0.4 and 0.32 mg/kg, respectively. In beef, the concentration of tylosin was 0.05 mg/kg. The levels of oxytetracycline and tylosin were below the Korean Food Code’s recommended maximum residue limit (MRL). A maximum residue limit for ampicillin in fishery products, however, has not been established in Korea. These data indicate that an MRL for ampicillin should be set for sea foods and regulated by the Korean authorities.     

Mechanical properties of lanthanum zirconate-based composite thermal barrier coatings

Lanthanum zirconate is a promising candidate material for thermal barrier coating (TBC) applications due to its low thermal conductivity and high temperature phase stability. However, its application is limited by thermal durability caused by low fracture toughness and low coefficient of thermal expansion. We recently developed LZ/8YSZ composite TBC systems using blended LZ and 8YSZ powders, which have demonstrated excellent thermal cycling performance. In this study, the mechanical properties of the composite TBCs were characterised using both nanoindentation and Vicker’s microhardness tests. The nanoindentation results show that both Young’s modulus and nanohardness increase with increasing 8YSZ content, suggesting the mechanical properties can be tailored by changing the volume ratio of 8YSZ. The ratios of Young’s modulus to nanohardness remain constant, ～18, irrespective to the coating’s composition. The microhardness results show the same dependence with 8YSZ content, which is confirmed by the analytic models based on composite theory.     

Microbiological and visual quality of fresh-cut cabbage as affected by packaging treatments

Microbiological behavior of fresh-cut cabbage as affected by packaging treatments including high oxygen (MAP1: 70 kPa O₂+15 kPa CO₂/balanced N₂), low oxygen (MAP₂: 5 kPa O₂+15 kPa CO₂/balanced N₂), and moderate vacuum (MVP), in combination with gas permeable (LDPE) and barrier (Ny/PE) films, was investigated. Spoilage bacteria and pathogens were inoculated on shredded cabbage, and observed for viable cell counts during storage at 5°C. Overall population of the tested bacteria was noticeably reduced in MAP1 with Ny/PE, but was little influenced by MAP2. However, the inoculated bacteria in MVP with Ny/PE significantly increased or leveled off. In sensory evaluation, the barrier packages maintained better visual quality compared to the permeable. Results indicate that packages with high O₂ and CO₂ in the barrier film showed considerable microbial inhibition without deteriorating visual quality. Therefore, it can be applied as a promising tool to secure microbial safety of fresh-cut vegetables at refrigerated temperatures.     

Potential of a lactic acid bacterial starter culture with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) activity for production of fermented sausage

The ability of lactic acid bacterial starter cultures to produce gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) during sausage fermentation was studied. Among 305 strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from kimchi samples, 11 strains were selected as starter candidates based on the following criteria: growth speed, pH lowering ability, and biogenic amine productivity including GABA-producing activity. During in vitro tests, the Y8 (Lactobacillus brevis), O52, and KA20 strains produced 39.00 ± 1.36, 49.73 ± 3.80, and 64.59 ± 0.61 mg/kg of GABA, respectively. Interestingly, although isolate Y8 showed low productivity in vitro, the GABA content it produced during in situ tests (61.30 ± 2.61 mg/kg) was similar to that produced by isolate PM3 (L. brevis) used as positive control (69.64 ± 2.20 mg/kg). Therefore, isolate Y8 was selected as the best functional starter culture for the production of fermented sausage because it exhibited rapid growth, safety, and abundant GABA productivity.     

Controllability for Semilinear Retarded Control Systems in Hilbert Spaces

This paper deals with well-posedness and L ²-regularity properties for a class of semilinear retarded functional differential equations. A relation between the reachable set of a semilinear system and that of the corresponding linear system is proved. We also show that the Lipschitz continuity and the uniform boundedness of the nonlinear term can be considerably weakened. Finally, a simple example is given, to which our main result can be applied. This work was supported by the Brain Korea 21 Project in 2006.     

Analysis of sulfonamide and quinolone antibiotic residues in Korean milk using microbial assays and high performance liquid chromatography

A new protocol to analyse sulfonamides and quinolones from cows’ and goats’ milk was developed. Seven antibiotics, sulfamonomethoxine (SMM), sulfadimethoxine (SDM), sulfamethazine (SMZ), sulfamerazine (SMR), sulfaquinoxaline (SQX), enrofloxacin (ERF), and ciprofloxacin (CIP), were analysed by microbial assays and HPLC. In microbial assays, 21 of 269 samples were screened to have possible antibiotic residues. In HPLC analysis 4 samples were detected to contain SMR (3 samples) and CIP (1 sample). The concentration of SMR in the cows’ milk was 12.2 μg kg⁻¹, which is higher than the LOQ (limit of quantification) and LOD (limit of detection). The levels of SMR and CIP in the other 3 samples were between their LOD and LOQ. Based on this study, we were able to establish an analytical protocol for accurate and robust detection of sulfonamide and quinolone-type antibiotics in milk using two assays.     

Development of a treatment process and immobilization method for the volume reduction of uranium-bearing spent catalysts for final disposal

The uranium catalyst had been used in several industrial fields. The spent uranium catalyst became problematic radioactive waste awaiting a management strategy for the final disposal. This work studies a process to greatly reduce the volume of a spent uranium catalyst waste and the generation of a suitable waste form for final disposal. The process consists of several steps such as selective dissolution of the SiO₂ catalyst support, precipitation of dissolved silicon followed by its purification for release, treatment of uranium-laden wastewater generated during the process, and immobilization of the final uranium-bearing astes for disposal. Based on bench scale-level experiments, the process was confirmed to be effective to reduce the volume of the uranium catalyst waste. The final volume reduction yield obtained in this work was over 80% from the volume of the initial uranium catalyst waste. The radioactivity of the secondary wastes, namely, the recovered silica and effluent generated from the process, was confirmed to be sufficiently managed for clearance with meeting the discharge criteria in Korea. The process could achieve the maximum volume reduction of the uranium catalyst waste to be transferred to a disposal site, with the by-products from the process being released, meeting discharge criteria in view of both nuclear and non-nuclear environmental regulations.     

Effects of magnetic ion exchange pretreatment on low pressure membrane filtration of natural surface water

Magnetic ion exchange (MIEX) pretreatment has been increasingly employed by water treatment plants for removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). In this study, the effects of MIEX pretreatment on low pressure membrane filtration of natural surface water were investigated under different feedwater qualities, membrane properties, and MIEX dosing conditions. Regardless of feedwater DOC, moderate decrease in the total and hydraulically irreversible fouling was observed for a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microfiltration membrane and a polyethersulfone ultrafiltration (UF) membrane after MIEX pretreatment, which was coincident with moderate removals of high molecular weight DOC in the feedwaters. Comparatively, the fouling of a PVDF UF membrane did not decrease after MIEX pretreatment, revealing the impact of membrane properties on membrane fouling in the presence of MIEX pretreatment. Reuse of virgin or regenerated MIEX resulted in similar membrane fouling as observed with single use of the virgin MIEX. The level of DOC removal by MIEX was similar to the removal of MS2 bacteriophage spiked in the feedwater, suggesting a potential similarity in the removal of organic and microbial particles. In conclusion, MIEX pretreatment was effective for DOC removal, but less effective in controlling short-term membrane fouling or removing viruses.     

Relationship between mechanical properties of ceramic green body and structures of photo-cured acrylate polymer for ceramic 3D printing based on photo polymerization

3D printing technologies using photo polymerization of photo-curable monomer and oligomers as an organic binder have been studied to fabricate ceramics with a complicated shape. For minimizing distortion of ceramics during the manufacturing process and fast 3D printing of ceramic green body, high mechanical strength of ceramic green body and fast photo polymerization of the photo-curable resin are required, respectively. In this study, the ceramic green bodies with various compositions were fabricated by photo radical polymerization of the slurry-type resin composed of fused silica bead, and tri- or (and) mono-functional acrylate. Photo radical polymerization behaviors of mono-, tri-functional acrylate monomer, and blend of two monomers were analyzed by photo-DSC and FT-IR measurements. The structure analysis of photo-cured polymers made by each monomer was performed by thermo-mechanical analysis. Through mixing of mono- and tri-functional acrylate monomer, we confirmed that polymerization rate more increased compared with those of only mono-, tri-functional monomer. Unreacted vinyl groups in the polymers prepared with blend of two monomers decreased by an addition of mono-functional monomer in tri-functional monomer. The polymers prepared with the blend showed higher storage modulus and broader viscoelastic behavior compared to those fabricated with tri-functional monomer. Thus, to achieve high fracture strength of the green body, we verified that the photo-cured polymer in the green body should have high crosslinking density and low free volume based on reduction of unreacted vinyl groups in the polymer. Additionally, through analysis of cross-sectional SEM of the green body, we confirmed that acrylate monomer should include proper content in the slurry-type resin to maximize the fracture strength of the body regardless of the type of the used acrylate monomer. This was because low content of acrylate monomer in the slurry-type resin makes it difficult to form neckings composed with photo-cured polymers between the silica beads.