• Toxicological Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.251-260
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• 2014

The number of farmers who have suffered from non-fatal acute pesticide poisoning has been reported to vary from 5.7% to 86.7% in South Korea since 1975. Absorption through the skin is the main route of exposure to pesticides for farmers who operate with them. Several in vitro tests using the skins of humans or animal and in vivo tests using laboratory animals are introduced for the assessment of human dermal absorption level of pesticides. The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare international guidelines and strategies of dermal absorption assessments and to propose unique approaches for applications into pesticide registration process in our situation. Until present in our situation, pesticide exposure level to operator is determined just using default value of 10 as for skin absorption ratio because of data shortage. Dermal absorption tests are requested to get exposure level of pesticides and to ultimately know the safety of pesticides for operators through the comparison with the value of AOEL. When the exposure level is higher than AOEL, the pesticide cannot be approved. We reviewed the skin absorption test guidelines recommended by OECD, EFSA and EPA. The EPA recommends assessment of skin absorption of pesticides for humans through the TPA which includes all the results of in vitro human and animal and animal in vivo skin absorption studies. OECD and EFSA, employ a tiered approach, which the requirement of further study depends on the results of the former stage study. OECD guidelines accept the analysis of pesticide level absorbed through skin without radioisotope when the recovery using the non-labeled method is within 80~120%. Various factors are reviewed in this study, including the origin of skin (gender, animal species and sites of skin), thickness, temperature and, etc., which can influence the integrity of results.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.396-401
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• 2020

As the world becomes more globalized, the non-native species issue has emerged as a problem that is growing internationally. In particular, the number of non-native turtles found in the wild has been increasing sharply in South Korea. At least 15 species of non-native turtles, including the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) first imported in the 1970s, have been found in Korea. On October 15, 2019, an alligator snapping turtle (AST, Macrochelys temminckii) was found in a stream located in Gwangju city, South Korea. The discovery of AST became a big issue in South Korea as the animal is known for its large body size and aggressiveness and was featured widely in the mass media. In this study, to learn the public's perception of non-native species, we examined comments (opinions) to the online news articles about the AST. We collected 1,100 comments from the Internet news articles on the AST. Out of the 1,100 comments, 342 (31.1%) comments were related to non-native species' issues. Most of the respondents (97.7%, n=334) stated that the non-native species are a problem. Forty two comments mentioned potential threats posed by non-native species: non-native species' aggressive nature (n=11, 26.2%) and ecological disturbance (n=31, 73.8%). Lack of responsibility (n=122, 51.7%) was the major causative factor for the introduction of non-native species, and followed by indiscriminate pet trade (n=99, 42.0%), absence of relevant legislation (n=13, 5.5%), and absence of treatment (n=2, 0.8%). Animal registration (n=59, 45.7%) was the most commonly mentioned as the way to deal with the issue of the non-native species' invasion. Our results show that the public is aware of the seriousness of the invasion of non-native species, including AST. This study highlights that researchers and government officials need to consider the public's perception and opinions. We believe that our study can serve as an essential reference for the policy direction and the management of non-native species.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.117-121
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• 2007

The number of internet users and the scale of electronic on-line trading are on the increase due to the development of information technology and the internet. The aim of this study was to monitor the accuracy of country-of-origin labels and the indicated contents of meat available by electronic on-line trading by using a structural interview sheet for 100 on-line meat product markets. The result of this investigation showed a 100% level of accuracy for business name and telephone number whereas the company address, meat manufacturer and supplier, and business registration were less reliable. We also investigated the accuracy of site policy, e-mail address, and fax number. The results showed that the accuracy of fax numbers was the lowest. The product name and the kind of meat actually in the product showed a 100% level of conformity, while the price (96.3%), place of origin (93.6%), capacity (90.4%), meat parts (80.9%) and contents of the product (73.4%) showed a relatively low level of conformity. Serious safety issues were exposed by the disturbingly low 20.2% accuracy of indicated expiration dates and 5.3% accuracy of indicated manufacturing dates. To ensure food safety, it is essential to improve consumer understanding and trust regarding food safety through continuous public relations. More education and information are needed to raise consumer awareness of the facts versus myths regarding food safety.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2012

This study was conducted to give basic information of the animal manure management by manure units determination for recycling farming in Cheorwon-gun. Manure units (MU) are used in the permitting, registration, and the environmental process because they allow equal standards for all animals based on manure nutrient production. An MU is calculated by multiplying the number of animals by manure unit factor for the specific type of animal. The manure unit factor for MU determination was determined by dividing amounts of manure N produced 80 kg N/year. Conversion to manure units is a procedure used to determine nutrient pollution equivalents among the different animal types. In this study, the manure unit factor based on nitrogen in Hanwoo, dairy cow, pig were 0.36, 0.8 0.105, respectively. The analysis of manure unit per ha shows that the N loading by MU is quite different by region. The nitrogen loading of manure unit (MU) per ha of cultivated land was the highest in the Galmal-eup on province with 2.4 MU/ha, which is higher than the appropriate level. The Seo-myeon province came next with 1.92 MU/ha. To be utilized as a valid program to build the recycling farming system, diverse measures shall be mapped out to properly determine manure units, evaluate N-loading and to properly manage their nutrient balance of each region.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2016.07a
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• pp.295-296
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• 2016

본 연구에서는 LED 광 자극이 뇌의 어느 영역을 자극하여 신경신호를 전달하는지에 관해서 관찰하고자 연구를 진행하였다. 광 자극에 의한 뇌 영역의 활성변화를 관찰하기 위하여 실험용 소동물과 영상장비인 9.4T MRI를 이용하여 연구를 수행 하였다. 실험용 소동물은 Balb/c 마우스를 이용하였으며 기능적 자기공명영상 획득 방법 중 하나인 에코평면영상 기법을 이용하여 뇌 영상을 획득 하였다. 획득한 영상을 바탕으로 뇌 영역의 자극 정도를 확인해보기 위해 영상처리기법인 재편성(realignment), 일치(co-registration), 표준화(normalization), 평활화(smoothing) 방법으로 영상을 전처리 하고, statistical parametric map (SPM12)을 사용하여 분석하였다. 본 연구에서는 광자극이 소동물 뇌 영역 중 하나인 상구(Superior colliculus)영역과 대뇌의 시각피질 (visual cortex, V1) 영역에서 자극을 일으키는 것을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.183-194
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• 2022

Background: No study has examined the regulatory factors associated with fatal health problems due to the use of humidified disinfectants (HD) in South Korea. Objectives: This study aimed to identify and discuss the deficiencies and limitations found in the Toxic Chemical Control Acts (TCCA) that failed to prevent the health risk of chemicals in HD products. Methods: The South Korean TCCA was reviewed focusing on acts in operation from 1994 through the end of 2011, the period when HD was allowed in manufacturing and marketing. Results: The TCCA was the act intended to regulate the toxicity of chemicals in HD products. We found the TCCA to lack three key legal clauses which would have been essential to controlling the health risk of HD. First, there was the exemption of toxic and hazard testing for existing chemicals, including chloromethylisothiazolinone (CMIT), methylisothiazolinone (MIT), and benzalkonium chloride (BKC). Secondly, there were no articles requiring industry to provide animal inhalation test result for polymers such as polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG) and Oligo(2-)ethoxyethoxyethyl guanidine chloride (PGH). Finally, there was a lack of articles on examining the risk of products as well as on addressing changes in the usage of products. These articles were found to be generally provided in the US Toxic Substance Chemical Act (TSCA) and the EU Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH). Conclusions: In conclusion, the Ministry of Environment of South Korea had not updated key articles for regulating hazardous chemicals, causing large-scale health problems due to HD which had been fundamentally addressed in chemical-related acts in other countries.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.11-18
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• 2016

Magnetic resonance image (MRI) is widely used in brain research field and medical image. Especially, non-invasive brain activation acquired image technique, which is functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI) is used in brain study. In this study, we investigate brain activation occurred by LED light stimulation. For investigate of brain activation in experimental small animal, we used high magnetic field 9.4T MRI. Experimental small animal is Balb/c mouse, method of fMRI is using echo planar image (EPI). EPI method spend more less time than any other MRI method. For this reason, however, EPI data has low contrast. Due to the low contrast, image pre-processing is very hard and inaccuracy. In this study, we planned the study protocol, which is called block design in fMRI research field. The block designed has 8 LED light stimulation session and 8 rest session. All block is consist of 6 EPI images and acquired 1 slice of EPI image is 16 second. During the light session, we occurred LED light stimulation for 1 minutes 36 seconds. During the rest session, we do not occurred light stimulation and remain the light off state for 1 minutes 36 seconds. This session repeat the all over the EPI scan time, so the total spend time of EPI scan has almost 26 minutes. After acquired EPI data, we performed the analysis of this image data. In this study, we analysis of EPI data using statistical parametric map (SPM) software and performed image pre-processing such as realignment, co-registration, normalization, smoothing of EPI data. The pre-processing of fMRI data have to segmented using this software. However this method has 3 different method which is Gaussian nonparametric, warped modulate, and tissue probability map. In this study we performed the this 3 different method and compared how they can change the result of fMRI analysis results. The result of this study show that LED light stimulation was activate superior colliculus region in mouse brain. And the most higher activated value of segmentation method was using tissue probability map. this study may help to improve brain activation study using EPI and SPM analysis.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.278-285
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• 2016

Epidemiological studies have shown the association between transportation of live animals and the potential transmission of infectious disease between premises. This finding was also observed in the 2014-2015 foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Korea. Furthermore, slaughterhouses played a key role in the global spread of the FMD virus during the epidemic. In this context, in-depth knowledge of the structure of direct and indirect contact between slaughterhouses is paramount for understanding the dynamics of FMD transmission. But the social network structure of vehicle movements to slaughterhouses in Korea remains unclear. Hence, the aim of this study was to configure a social network topology of vehicle movements between slaughterhouses for a better understanding of how they are potentially connected, and to explore whether FMD outbreaks can be explained by the network properties constructed in the study. We created five monthly directed networks based on the frequency and chronology of on- and off-slaughterhouse vehicle movements. For the monthly network, a node represented a slaughterhouse, and an edge (or link) denoted vehicle movement between two slaughterhouses. Movement data were retrieved from the national Korean Animal Health Integrated System (KAHIS) database, which tracks the routes of individual vehicle movements using a global positioning system (GPS). Electronic registration of livestock movements has been a mandatory requirement since 2013 to ensure traceability of such movements. For each of the five studied networks, the network structures were characterized by small-world properties, with a short mean distance, a high clustering coefficient, and a short diameter. In addition, a strongly connected component was observed in each of the created networks, and this giant component included 94.4% to 100% of all network nodes. The characteristic hub-and-spoke type of structure was not identified. Such a structural vulnerability in the network suggests that once an infectious disease (such as FMD) is introduced in a random slaughterhouse within the cohesive component, it can spread to every other slaughterhouse in the component. From an epidemiological perspective, for disease management, empirically derived small-world networks could inform decision-makers on the higher potential for a large FMD epidemic within the livestock industry, and could provide insights into the rapid-transmission dynamics of the disease across long distances, despite a standstill of animal movements during the epidemic, given a single incursion of infection in any slaughterhouse in the country.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.309-316
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• 2012

Multimodal-imaging technique has been rapidly developed for improvement of diagnosis and evaluation of therapeutic effects. In despite of integrated hardware, registration accuracy was decreased due to a discrepancy between multimodal image and insufficiency of count in accordance with different acquisition method of each modality. The purpose of this study was to improve the PET image by event data resampling through analysis of data format, noise and statistical properties of small animal PET list data. Inveon PET listmode data was acquired as static data for 10 min after 60 min of 37 MBq/0.1 ml $^{18}F$-FDG injection via tail vein. Listmode data format was consist of packet containing 48 bit in which divided 8 bit header and 40 bit payload space. Realigned sinogram was generated from resampled event data of original listmode by using adjustment of LOR location, simple event magnification and nonparametric bootstrap. Sinogram was reconstructed for imaging using OSEM 2D algorithm with 16 subset and 4 iterations. Prompt coincidence was 13,940,707 count measured from PET data header and 13,936,687 count measured from analysis of list-event data. In simple event magnification of PET data, maximum was improved from 1.336 to 1.743, but noise was also increased. Resampling efficiency of PET data was assessed from de-noised and improved image by shift operation of payload value of sequential packet. Bootstrap resampling technique provides the PET image which noise and statistical properties was improved. List-event data resampling method would be aid to improve registration accuracy and early diagnosis efficiency.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2016

This study was designed to determine the mutagenic potential of hydrolyzed glycomacropeptide (GMP) powder (hereafter referred to as 23%-GNANA; product name: HELICOBACTROL-23) in a micronucleus test using bone marrow in ICR mice. Three experimental groups were used: a 3-step concentration group, with a maximum concentration of 2,000 mg/kg, and other sequentially two-fold lower concentrations, a negative control group, and a positive control group. The test material was administered for 2 d to observe the frequency of micronucleus formation up to 48 h after the test material was absorbed by the body. When the polychromatic erythrocyte (PCE) content of erythrocytes was compared, no significant differences were noted between the negative control group and the test group (p<0.05). Similarly, when the average numbers of micronucleated PCE (MNPCE) in 2,000 PCE per animal were compared, no significant difference was observed between the negative control group and the test group (p<0.05). No dose-response relationship with regard to the concentration of the test material administered was noted. These results allow us to conclude that hydrolyzed whey protein powder does not cause formation of micronuclei in mouse bone marrow cells under the applied conditions. In this study, the average frequency of micronucleus formation in PCE was significantly higher in the positive control group compared with the negative control group; thus, the test conditions were appropriate for detecting the frequency of micronucleus formation induced by the test material. In conclusion, the safety of 23%-GNANA test substance was verified in an in vivo micronucleus test in mice, conducted before the registration of HELICOBACTROL-23 as a food additive.