This study applied molecular-based method to investigate the presence of porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) in 59 commercial pig farms in South Korea. The results of RT-PCR screening on a relatively large collection of faeces samples (n = 681) from January 2013 to March 2015 did not reveal the presence of PDCoV until the end of 2014. However, on March 2015, PDCoV-positive samples (SL2, SL5) were detected from SL swine farm in Gyeongbuk province. The phylogenetic trees based on the complete spike- and nucleocapsid protein-coding genes showed that SL2 and SL5 closely related to the US PDCoV strains rather than those in China. Thought Korean strains of PDCoV isolated in 2014 (KNU14.04) and in 2015 (SL2 and SL5) grouped within US PDCoV cluster, the reconstruction of ancestral amino acid changes suggested that they are different.

TB development among newly diagnosed type 2 DM was considerable, and statin use among these diabetics was not associated with a protective effect on TB incidence.

In this study, alum and natural zeolite were added to a submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) not only to reduce membrane fouling but also to increase the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus. Alum addition reduced significantly the rising rate of suction pressure and also resulted in stable and better COD removal. Although phosphorus removal was more than 90% by chemical precipitation, nitrification inhibition was observed. With the addition of natural zeolite, membrane permeability was greatly enhanced by the formation of rigid floc that had lower specific resistance than that of the control activated sludge floc. In particular, the nitrification efficiency was over 95% even at N-shock loading due to the ion-exchange capacity of zeolite. The mechanisms for improved membrane permeability through alum or zeolite addition were discussed in detail.

The membrane-coupled activated sludge (MCAS) process has many advantages over the conventional activated sludge system, but the inherent membrane fouling problem still remains to be solved. However, it is not yet advanced enough to understand the reliable fouling mechanism. The strength of the MCAS process lies in the almost complete removal of suspended solids from the activated sludge broth. But it has made us overlook the effect of sludge morphology and physiology on membrane flux which is one of the key factors in deciding the economical feasibility of the MCAS system. The aim of this study was to investigate membrane filtration characteristics in the MCAS process, especially to correlate floc structures of the activated sludge with membrane fouling. A series of ultrafiltrations with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic membranes using the stirred batch cell system was performed to assess flux behavior according to the floc structures of the activated sludges (normal, pinpoint, and bulking activated sludge). The order of fouling tendency was found to be normal sludge Ͻ pinpoint sludge Ͻ bulking sludge. Also, all the membranes behaved in the same way. The cake layer resistance (R c ) made up most of the total resistance (R t ), but the fouling resistance (R f ) was negligible in any floc structure. The key factors controlling the R c were the shape and size of the activated sludge flocs and the porosity of the cake layer accumulated on the membrane surface. ORDER REPRINTSmembrane showed a greater fouling tendency than the hydrophilic membrane regardless of the microbial floc structures. The difference in fouling tendency between the two membranes was attributed to the hydrophobic interactions between the membrane and floc surfaces.

Taken together, these results indicate that moderate to severe sneezing and a serum eosinophil count > or = 300 cells/microl may be predictive factors for BHR in patients with CRSNP.