• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.73-85
• /
• 2006

Blood serum concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in employees who worked at a municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI), members of residential community who lived near the MSWI (<0.3km) and members of residential community lived far from the MSWI (>10 km). Human blood serum samples were analyzed for all PCB congeners using high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The mean levels of total PCBs and dioxin-like PCBs in 87 serum samples were 242.77 ng/g lipid and 8.83 TEQ pg/g lipid, respectively. The PCB homologue profiles showed that penta-, hexa-, hepta-chlorinated biphenyls contributed more than 80% of the total PCBs concentration. The most abundant congeners were PCB153, PCB138, PCB180, PCB187, PCB118. A statistical analysis was performed to determine whether there were significant correlations between PCB concentrations and specific variables such as age, gender, smoking habits, occupation, BMI (Body Mass Index) and time of residence. As a result, the age was found to be strongly correlated with serum PCB concentrations. In addition, there were strong correlations between total PCBs and PCB153 (r=0.93, p<.0001), dioxin-like PCBs and PCB118 (r=0.98, p<.0001). So these two congeners are satisfactory indicators for total PCB concentrations and dioxin-like PCBs in human blood respectively.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.376-385
• /
• 2009

In our study, the accuracy for measurement of seventeen 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs/PCDFs in certified reference material (CRM) which is the sample of homogeneous sediment matrix taken from an area known to have significant chemical contamination, particularly PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), was evaluated. Though the methodology in this study followed the official method of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UPOPs) announced by the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea in 2007, there were slight changes using additional purification step by activated carbon column because the interferences of sample were not sufficiently removed when only multi-silica column and alumina column have been used for purification. The |En| number proposed by the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science was used for a valuation basis of the accuracy. The |En| numbers of seventeen 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs/PCDFs have been indicated as 1 and below, they were decided "Pass" in this test, when DB-5MS column and SP-2331 column were used together. Because 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD and #169-HxCB were not separated on DB-5MS column, the ions of 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD were selected at M/M+2 instead of M+2/M+4 suggested by EPA 1613. It is possible to distinguish them in HRGC/HRMS analysis.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
• /
• v.40 no.5
• /
• pp.263-270
• /
• 2006

Purpose: Several radioisotope-labeled thymidine derivatives such as $[^{11}C]$thymidine was developed to demonstrate cell proliferation in tumor. But it is difficult to track metabolism with $[^{11}C]$thymidine due to rapid in vivo degradation and its short physical half-life. 3'-$[^{18}F]$fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine ($[^{18}F]$FLT) was reported to have the longer half life of fluorine-18 and the lack of metabolic degradation in vivo. Here, we described the synthesis of the 3'-$[^{18}F]$fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine ($[^{18}F]$FLT) and compared with $([^{18}F]FET)\;and\;([^{18}F]FDG)$ in cultured 9L cell and obtained the biodistribution and PET image in 9L tumor hearing rats. Material and Methods: For the synthesis of $[^{18}F]$FLT, 3-N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-(5'-O-(4,4'-dimet hoxytriphenylmethyl)-2'-deoxy-3'-O-(4-nitrobenzenesulfonyl)-${\beta}$-D-threopentofuranosyl)thymine was used as a FLT precursor, on which the tert-butyloxycarbonyl group was introduced to protect N3-position and nitrobenzenesulfonyl group. Radiolabeling of nosyl substitued precursor with $^{18}F$ was performed in acetonitrile at $120^{\circ}C$ and deproteced with 0.5 N HCI. The cell uptake was measured in cultured 9L glioma cell. The biodistribution was evaluated in 9L tumor bearing rats after intravenous injection at 10 min, 30 min, 60 min and 120 min and obtained PET image 60 minutes after injection. Results: The radiochemical yield was about 20-30% and radiochemical purity was more than 95% after HPLC purification. Cellular uptake of $[^{18}F]$FLT was increased as time elapsed. At 120 min post-injection, the ratios of tumor/blood, tumor/muscle and tumor/brain were $1.61{\pm}0.34,\;1.70{\pm}0.30\;and\;9.33{\pm}2.22$, respectively. The 9L tumor was well visualized at 60 min post injection in PET image. Conclusion: The uptake of $[^{18}F]$FLT in tumor was higher than in normal brain and PET image of $[^{18}F]$FLT was acceptable. These results suggest the possibility of $[^{18}F]$FLT at an imaging agent for brain tumor.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.15-26
• /
• 1969

The study on physico-chemical characteristics of the acid sulfate soil present in Kimhae plain was carried out with 28 surface and subsoils from lower and higher produtive area and two representative profile samples from the areas reclaimed a few decades ago and around 10 years ago respectively. 1. There are no differences in soil texture between lower and higher productive soils being mostly silty clay loam and silty clay. 2. Very significant differences in pH, degree of base saturation and extractable aluminium content are observed; lower pH, lower degree of base saturation and higher aluminium in the lower productive soils and subsoils. The pH and degree of base saturation of these soils are extremely low whereas aluminium content is very high compared to ordinary paddy soil. 3. Cation exchange capacity of these soils are slightly higher than ordinary paddy soils. In higher productive soils, exchangeable calcium and magnesium are of same order, whereas in lower productive soils magnesium content is appreciably higher than calcium. 4. Though the soil is derived from marine and estuarine sediment, the soluble salt content is not high. There are only few lower productive surface soils and subsoils having Ec values of the saturation extracts higher than 4 mmhos but lower than 9 mmhos/cm. 5. Organic matter content of these soils is a bit higher compared to ordinary paddy soils, but, nitrogen content is comparatively low. C/N ratio of these soils is around 12. 6. Sulfur content is considerably higher but oxidizable sulfur is found to be very low. Total sulfur is generally high in subsoils and lower productive soils. 7. Active iron and available silica are slightly higher than ordinary paddy soils but easily reducible manganese is very low. Almost no differences are also observed between lower and higher productive soils. 8. Available phosphorus content is extremely low in particular, regardless of higher or lower productive soils. 9. The two representative profiles from the area of earlier reclamation and recent one show that samples from earlier reclaimed area contain less amount of free acids, sulfur compounds, toxic aluminium and soluble salts etc. than the other. This indicate greater leaching and possible addition of lime for a longer period of time. 10. From the results obtained, it can be concluded the higher productivity of group I soils is due to the greater leaching and neutralisation of acidity by liming materials, It can also be concluded that the productivity of both types can be increased by addition of liming materials and improvement of drainage facilities.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.35-52
• /
• 1973

Red Yellow Soils occur very commonly in Korea and constitute the important upland soils of the country which are either presently being cultivated or are suitable for reclaiming and cultivating. These soils are distributed on rolling, moutain foot slopes, and terraces in the southern and western parts of the central districts of Korea, and are derived from granite, granite gneiss, old alluvium and locally from limestone and shale. This report is a summary of the morphology, physical and chemical characteristics of Red Yellow Soils. The data obtained from detailed soil surveys since 1964 are summarized as follows. 1. Red-Yellows Soils have an A, Bt, C profile. The A horizon is dark colored coarse loamy or fine loamy with the thin layer of organic matter. The B horizon is dominantly strong brown, reddish brown or yellowish red, clayey or fine loamy with clay cutans on the soil peds. The C horizon varies with parent materials, and is coarser texture and has a less developed structure than the Bt horizon. Soil depth, varied with relief and parent materials, is predominantly around 100cm. 2. In the physical characteristics, the clay content of surface soil is 18 to 35 percent, and of subsoil is 30 to 90 percent nearly two times higher than the surface soil. Bulk density is 1.2 to 1.3 in the surface soil and 1.3 to 1.5 in the subsoil. The range of 3-phase is mostly narrow with 45 to 50 percent in solid phase, 30 to 45 percent in liquid one, and 5 to 25 percent in gaseous state in the surface soil; and 50 to 60 solid, 35 to 45 percent liquid and less than 15 percent gaseous in the subsoil. Available soil moisture capacity ranges from 10 to 23 percent in the surface soil, and 5 to 16 percent in the subsoil. 3. Chemically, soil reaction is neutral to alkaline in soils derived from limestone or old fluviomarine deposits, and acid to strong acid in other ones. The organic matter content of surface soil varying considerably with vegetation, erosion and cultivation, ranges from 1.0 to 5.0 percent. The cation exchange capacity is 5 to 40 me/100gr soil and closely related to the content of organic matter, clay and silt. Base saturation is low, on the whole, due to the leaching of extractable cations, but is high in soils derived from limestone with high content of lime and magnesium. 4. Most of these soils mainly contain halloysite (a part of kaolin minerals), vermiculite (weathered mica), and illite, including small amount of chlorite, gibbsite, hematite, quartz and feldspar. 5. Characteristically they are similar to Red Yellow Podzolic Soils and a part of Reddish Brown Lateritic Soils of the United States, and Red Yellow Soils of Japan. According to USDA 7th Approximation, they can be classified as Udu Its or Udalfs, and in FAO classification system to Acrisols, Luvisols, and Nitosols.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.27-34
• /
• 2004

Background: Infective endocarditis shows higher operative morbidity and mortality rates than other cardiac diseases. The vast majority of studies on infective endocarditis have been made on aortic endocarditis, with little attention having been paid to infective endocarditis on the mitral valve. This study attempts to investigate the clinical aspects and operative results of infective endocarditis on the mitral valve. Meterial and Method: The subjects of this study consist of 23 patients who underwent operations for infective endocariditis on the mitral valve from June 1995 to May 2003. Among them, 2 patients suffered from prosthetic valvular endocarditis and the other 21 from native valvular endocarditis. The subjects were evenly distributed age-wise with an average age of 44.8$\pm$15.7 (11∼66) years. Emergency operations were performed on seventeen patients (73.9%) due to large vegetation or instable hemodynamic status. In preoperative examinations, twelve patients exhibited congestive heart failure, four patients renal failure, two patients spleen and renal infarction, and two patients temporary neurological defects, while one patient had a brain abscess. Based on the NYHA functional classification, seven patients were determined to be at Grade II, 9 patients at Grade III, and 6 patients at Grade IV. Vegetations were detected in 20 patients while mitral regurgitation was dominant in 19 patients with 4 patients showing up as mitral stenosis dominant on the preoperative echocardiogram. Blood cultures for causative organisms were performed on all patients, and positive results were obtained from ten patients, with five cases of Streptococcus viridance, two cases of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and one case each of Corynebacteriurn, Haemophillis, and Gernella. Operations were decided according to the AA/AHA guidelines (1988). The mean follow-up period was 27.6 $\pm$23.3 (1 ∼ 97) months. Result: Mitral valve replacements were performed on 43 patients, with mechanical valves being used on 9 patients and tissue valves on the other 4. Several kinds of mitral valve repair or mitral valvuloplasty were carried out on the remaining 10 patients. Associated procedures included six aortic valve replacements, two tricuspid annuloplasty, one modified Maze operation, and one direct closure of a ventricular septal defect. Postoperative complications included two cases of bleeding and one case each of mediastinitis, low cardiac output syndrome, and pneumonia. There were no cases of early deaths, or death within 30 days following the operation. No patient died in the hospital or experienced valve related complications. One patient, however, underwent mitral valvuloplasty 3 months after the operation. Another patient died from intra-cranial hemorrhage in the 31st month after the operation. Therefore, the valve-related death rate was 4.3%, and the valve-related complication rate 8.6% on mid-term follow-up. 1, 3-, and 5-year valve- related event free rates were 90.8%, 79.5%, and 79.5%, respectively, while 1, follow-up. 1, 3-, and 5-year valve- related event free rates were 90.8%, 79.5%, and 79.5%, respectively, while 1, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 100%, 88.8%, and 88.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a complete removal of infected tissues is essential in the operative treatment of infectious endocarditis of the mitral valve. It is also suggested that when infected tissues are completely removed, neither type of material nor method of operation has a significant effect on the operation result. The postoperative results also suggest the need for a close follow-up observation of the patients suspected of having brain damage, which is caused by preoperative blood contamination or emboli from vegetation, for a possible cerebral vascular injury such as mycotic aneurysm.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.40 no.8
• /
• pp.536-545
• /
• 2007

Background: Compared to adult patients, mitral regurgitation in pediatric patients is uncommon and it shows a wide spectrum of morphologic abnormalities. We retrospectively evaluated the midterm results of mitral valve repair in pediatric patients. Material and Method: Between December 1993 and August 2006, mitral valve repair was performed in 35 patients who were aged less than 18 years, The mean age was $5.3{\pm}5.3$ years and the mean body weight was $20,0{\pm}16.3\;kg$. 18 patients had associated cardiac anomalies. The most common pathologic finding was leaflet prolapse (n=17). The most common method of repair was the double orifice technique (n=15). Result: There was no early mortality. Eight patients underwent reoperation (24.2%), and five of them required mitral valve replacement. Among the four ring annuloplasty cases, two have developed mitral stenosis. Four out of the 14 double orifice cases required reoperation. One case of early mortality and one case of late mortality occurred in the reoperation cases. The 5-year survival rate and the freedom from reoperation rate were $93.3{\pm}4.6%$ and $76.1{\pm}8.2%$, respectively. The 5-year freedom from mitral valve replacement rate was $83.6{\pm}6.7%$. There was no significant risk factor for reoperation. Conclusion: The midterm results of mitral valve repair are very acceptable in pediatric patients compared to the adult cases, although the reoperation rate is slightly higher.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.30-37
• /
• 2013

Low-rank coal with high water content (32.3 wt%) was dried by fry drying, and the fuel characteristics of the dried coal from which the oil was separated by using a high-speed centrifugal separator were analyzed. After fry drying for 6 min and 10 min, the water content decreased to 5.0 wt% and 4.2 wt% respectively. The higher calorific value (HCV) of the coal increased remarkably after fry drying, from 11,442.0 kJ/kg-wet. The oil content of the fry-dried coal was 15.0 wt% and it decreased with an increase in the reheating temperature: 9.7 wt% at $80^{\circ}C$ to 9.3 wt% at $100^{\circ}C$, and then to 8.5 wt% at $120^{\circ}C$. The recovered oil could then be reused. According to of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), there was no difference in the weight loss patterns of the coal samples with different coal diameters at a reheating temperature of $120^{\circ}C$. This was because the amount of oil separated by the centrifugal separator was affected by the reheating temperature rather than the coal diameter. And derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) curves of raw coal before the fry-drying process, a peak is formed at $400^{\circ}C$ in which the volatile matter is gasified. In case of the fry-dried coal, the first peak is generated at $350^{\circ}C$, and the second peak is generated at $400^{\circ}C$. The first peak is caused by the oil that is replaced with the water contained in the coal during the fry-drying process. Further, the peaks of the coal samples in which the oil is separated at a reheating temperature of $80^{\circ}C$, $100^{\circ}C$, $120^{\circ}C$, respectively are smaller than that of the coal in which the oil is not separated, and this is caused by that the oil is separated by the centrifugal separator.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 1978

In de novo biosynthesis of the extracellulor enzymes-proteinsaes, alpha and gluc-amylases during the synchronized differentiation of Aspergillus niger in submerged culture and surface liquid culture were investigated. Gluc-amylase was synthesized in the stage of presporulation in which phialide formation is involved. Proteinase was synthesized both in the stages of conidiophore formation and presporulation. Alpha-amylase was synthesized during presporulation and sporulation stages, the activity of enzyme lasted for seven days on surface liquid culture. It seemed that the synthesis was occured in de novo partly repressed by the catabolite, and its nature was found to be constitutive since it is produced in non-starch medium. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis have shown that presporulating and sporulating body produced diverse types of the proteins whereas the earlier stages of vegetative body showed simpler profiles. The uptake of C-14 uracil into RNA and C-14 glutamate into protein were shown to be vigorous in presporulating body rather than those in sporulating body. Coincidence of alpha-amylase biosynthesis in de novo and sporulation may be significant in the study of differentiation in which gene expression is involved.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.185-191
• /
• 2001

Objectives: Recently, $[methyl-^{11}C]-({\beta}$-Hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium ($[^{11}C]$choline) Has been discovered to be a very effective tracer in imaging various human tumors using positron omission tomography. Because of the short half-life of C-11, it is very difficult to use in a routine imaging procedure and needs a frequent synthesis of $[^{11}C]$choline. This can be supplemented by the substitution of $[^{11}C]$choline with $[methyl-^{18}F]$fluorocholine. Here, we would like to report ceil uptake and biodistribution of $[^{11}C]$choline and $[^{18}F]$fluorocholine as a basic study. Methods: $[^{11}C]$Choline was prepared by the treatment of $[^{11}C]CH_3I$ with N,N-dimethylaminoethanol and $[^{18}F]$fluorocholine was synthesized from reaction of $CH_2Br[^{18}F]F$ with N,N-dimethylaminoethanol. The radiochemical purity was checked by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The blodistribution of $[^{11}C]$choline and $[^{18}F]$fluorocholine was determined in balb/c mouse at 5 min, 20 min, 40 min and 80 min. The cell uptake was measured using glioma (9L) and colon adenocarcinoma (SW620). Results: The radiochemical purity was more than 98% after purification. In the liver, uptake did not change over time; the uptake was 20%ID/g for $[^{11}C]$choline and 13%ID/g for $[^{18}F]$fluorocholine. In the kidney, radioactivity decreased over time; the uptake was 15%ID/g for $[^{11}C]$choline and 20%ID/g for $[^{18}F]$fluorocholine, 80 min post-injection. The cell uptake of $[^{11}C]$choline was 4.93% for glioma (9L) and 18.69% for colon adenocarcinoma (SW620). For $[^{18}F]$fluorocholine, 1.77% for glioma (9L) and 2.77% for colon adenocarcinoma (SW620). Conclusion: $[^{11}C]$Choline and $[^{18}F]$fluorocholine showed a different cell uptake tendency, depending on cancer cell line.