• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.125-138
• /
• 2023

Most of previous cesium (Cs) sorbents have limitations on the treatment in the large-scale water system having low Cs concentration and high ion strength. In this study, the new Cs sorbent that is eco-friendly and has a high Cs removal efficiency was developed by improving the coal mine drainage treated sludge (hereafter 'CMDS') with the addition of Na and S. The sludge produced through the treatment process for the mine drainage originating from the abandoned coal mine was used as the primary material for developing the new Cs sorbent because of its high Ca and Fe contents. The CMDS was improved by adding Na and S during the heat treatment process (hereafter 'Na-S-CMDS' for the developed sorbent in this study). Laboratory experiments and the sorption model studies were performed to evaluate the Cs sorption capacity and to understand the Cs sorption mechanisms of the Na-S-CMDS. The physicochemical and mineralogical properties of the Na-S-CMDS were also investigated through various analyses, such as XRF, XRD, SEM/EDS, XPS, etc. From results of batch sorption experiments, the Na-S-CMDS showed the fast sorption rate (in equilibrium within few hours) and the very high Cs removal efficiency (> 90.0%) even at the low Cs concentration in solution (< 0.5 mg/L). The experimental results were well fitted to the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting the mostly monolayer coverage sorption of the Cs on the Na-S-CMDS. The Cs sorption kinetic model studies supported that the Cs sorption tendency of the Na-S-CMDS was similar to the pseudo-second-order model curve and more complicated chemical sorption process could occur rather than the simple physical adsorption. Results of XRF and XRD analyses for the Na-S-CMDS after the Cs sorption showed that the Na content clearly decreased in the Na-S-CMDS and the erdite (NaFeS₂·2(H₂O)) was disappeared, suggesting that the active ion exchange between Na⁺ and Cs⁺ occurred on the Na-S-CMDS during the Cs sorption process. From results of the XPS analysis, the strong interaction between Cs and S in Na-S-CMDS was investigated and the high Cs sorption capacity was resulted from the binding between Cs and S (or S-complex). Results from this study supported that the Na-S-CMDS has an outstanding potential to remove the Cs from radioactive contaminated water systems such as seawater and groundwater, which have high ion strength but low Cs concentration.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.11
• /
• pp.5427-5432
• /
• 2012

Background and Purpose: Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among gynecologic cancers because of the lack of effective early detection methods. Accuracies of the human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) and mesothelin in detecting ovarian cancer have never been systematically assessed. The current systematic review aimed to tackle this issue. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched (September 1995-November 2011) for studies on the diagnostic performances of HE4 and mesothelin in differentiating ovarian cancer from other benign gynecologic diseases. QUADAS items were used to evaluate the qualities of the studies. Meta-DiSc software was used to handle data from the included studies and to examine heterogeneity. All included studies for diagnostic performance were combined with sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratios (DORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves, and areas under the SROC curves (AUC). Results: A total of 18 studies and 3,865 patients were eligible for the final analysis. The pooled sensitivity estimates for HE4 (74.4%) were significantly higher than those for mesothelin (49.3%). The pooled specificity estimates for mesothelin (94.5%) were higher than those for HE4 (85.8%). The pooled DOR estimates for HE4 (26.22) were higher than those for mesothelin (24.01). The SROC curve for HE4 showed better diagnostic accuracy than that for mesothelin. The PLR and NLR of HE4 were 6.33 (95% CI: 3.58 to 11.18) and 0.27 (95% CI: 0.21 to 0.34), respectively. The PLR and NLR for mesothelin were 11.0 (95% CI: 6.21 to 19.59) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.42 to 0.62), respectively. The combination of the two tumor markers or their combination with CA-125 increased sensitivity and specificity to different extents. Conclusion: The diagnostic accuracy of HE4 in differentiating ovarian cancer from other benign gynecologic diseases is better than that of soluble mesothelin-related protein. Combinations of two or more tumor markers show more sensitivity and specificity.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.11
• /
• pp.1588-1596
• /
• 2006

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different dietary protein levels on the performance, nutrient balances, blood biochemical parameters and thyroid hormones of crossbred calves. Thirty crossbred (Bos taurus${\times}$Bos indicus) calves aged 3-5 months were divided into 3 equal groups of 10 each and fed graded levels of crude protein, namely 100 (NP), 75 (LP) and 125 (HP) percent of the Kearl recommendations for 105 d. The calves had access to ad libitum oat hay as the basal roughage. A metabolism trial of 6 d duration was conducted at 90 d of the study. Blood collection and its analysis for various hematological and biochemical parameters as well as thyroid hormones was done both during the pre- and post-experimental periods. The fortnightly body weight changes and the net gain did not differ significantly due to dietary variation. The average daily gain was $367{\pm}21.6$, $347{\pm}22.9$ and $337{\pm}26.4g$ in calves fed NP, LP and HP diets, respectively. Averaged across the feeding trial, oat hay intake was higher (p<0.05) in NP animals than HP or LP fed groups. The dry matter (DM) intake showed no significant difference between the 3 groups but the DM digestibility was higher (p<0.05) in the HP fed animals. The digestibility of crude protein, organic matter, crude fiber and nitrogen-free extract was significantly higher (p<0.05) on HP diets compared to LP or NP diets. The calves on all 3 diets were in positive nitrogen (N) balance, however the N retention was higher (p<0.05) in HP than in LP fed calves. The intake and retention of calcium and phosphorus were similar between the treatments. The blood biochemical profile revealed no significant influence of the dietary treatments on hemoglobin, packed cell volume as well as serum levels of glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, Ca, P, and alkaline phosphatase. Serum levels of the circulating thyroid hormones ($T_3$ and $T_4$) tended to be lower (p>0.05) on feeding of the LP diet besides showing an increasing trend with the advancement of age. Considering the similar performance and metabolic profile, it could be concluded that crossbred calves can be satisfactorily reared on 25% lower protein level as recommended by Kearl for developing countries, which would not only economize the cost of production but also help to reduce environmental pollution attributable to livestock production.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.30-38
• /
• 2001

This research was conduced to 1) examine the influence of milk group intake on the dietary, considering dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy, 2) identify which foods truly contribute to the intake of specific nutrients 3) point out the dietary problems of this age group. The subjects were 664(male 357, female 307) healthy toddlers of the ages of 12-36 months, who had neither been taking any medicine-type supplements nor had any diseases that affect the dietary intakes, chosen among the outpatients of university and private hospitals in Seoul and Kyonggi province during Mach-August, 1999. The 24 hour recall method and CAN Pro(food analysis program) were used to analyze the amount of nutrient intake. The grouping of the subjects for the analysis by monthly age was based on the 98 Korean Child growth standard. The results that the milk group intake showed significant negative correlations with the grain group(r=-0.194, p<0.01), the vegetable group(r=-0.115, p<0.01) and the fruit group(r=-0.125, p<0.01). It also showed that the more the milk group intake, the lower the Dietary Diversity Score(r=-0.131, p<0.01), and the more the intake of raw milk, the more dificient the intake of iron(r=-0.211, p<0.01), vitamin A(r=-0.169,p<0.01), vitamin B$_1$(r=-0.078, p<0.05) and vitamin C(r=-0.187, p<0.01). Foods contributory to nutrient intake for of 12-14 months of were mostly infant formula, and the contribution ratio was high. In the age of 15-17 months, the subjects obtained most of the nutrients from raw milk., liquid-type yoghurt, soybean milk, cooked rice, etc. As for iron intake, the age of 21-23 month obtained the most from ionic drinks, and 24-29 months from raw milk, chocolate cakes, ionic drinks, etc. Though the NAR(Nutrient Adequacy Ratio) and MAR(Mean Adequacy Ratio) generally tended to increase accordingly with the DDs, as for nutrients Ca, vitamin A, vitamin B$_1$, and vitamin C the NAR marked the highest when the DDS marked the lowest(due to infant formula). And for iron, even when the DDS was 5 the NAR value was low. Im conclusion, the more the milk group intake, the lower was the dietary diversity. High dependency on infant formula and others from milk group over the age of 12 months proved to result in a decrease of nutritious solid food intake, iron deficiency and a low dietary diversity score, which can lead to an unbalanced diet. Therefore, nutrition education towards mothers/caretakers of toddler is of urgent need, in order to reduce the fluid milk group intake of low nutritional density and to provide various solid foods the children. (Korean J Nutrition 34(1):30-38, 2001)

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.43 no.5
• /
• pp.463-474
• /
• 2010

The nutrient intake and association between dish group intake and blood glucose and serum lipid level (TG, cholesterol, LDL and HDL) was analyzed among 3 groups: 452 subjects in normal blood glucose group (NG: fasting blood glucose < 100 mg/dL and 2 hours postprandial blood glucose < 140 mg/dL), 258 subjects in impaired fasting glucose group (IFG: fasting blood glucose 100~125 mg/dL and 2 hours postprandial blood glucose ${\geq}$ 140 mg/dL) and 101 subjects in diabetic group (DG: fasting blood glucose $\geq$ 126 mg/dL and 2 hours postprandial blood glucose ${\geq}$ 140 mg/dL). The data were obtained from the 2005 National Health and Nutrition Survey of Korea. The 811 subjects were adults aged 40~64 without dietary treatment. In nutrients intake, IFG was the highest and DG the lowest in both quantity and quality. DG, especially, had the lowest intake in carbohydrates, fiber, proteins, Ca, P, K, vitamins B1 and C, and consumed the highest amount of alcohol. In macronutrients distribution ratio, the DG diet showed a lower energy intake from carbohydrates but higher from fat than the NG diet, while IFG showed a higher energy intake from carbohydrates and lower intake from fat in supper out of 3 meals and snacks. IFG preferred salt-fermented foods and DG preferred soups, braised foods and kimchi compared to other groups. NG preferred multi-grain cooked rice and both IFG and DG preferred plain white cooked rice. Regarding the association between dish group intake and blood glucose, cooked rice, soups, salt-fermented foods and kimchi were significantly related to blood glucose. In blood lipids, steamed-foods, beverages and fruits were inversely related to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, whereas cooked rice, stews, saltfer-mented foods, seasoned-fermented foods and seasoned vegetables were directly proportional to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and related diseases. Therefore, it is beneficial to avoid rich, salty and fatty foods and heavy alcohol consumption for controlling blood glucose and blood lipids, while steamed foods, foods rich in fiber (like multigrain rice) as a staple, and fruits and teas are recommended for preventing or managing type 2 diabetes risks.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.125-133
• /
• 1991

In the isolated rabbit mesenteric artery denuded of endothelium, we characterized the identity of the A23187-induced endothelium-dependent relaxing factor (EDRF) released from the endothelium of rabbit aorta, which is distinct from that of acetylcholine-induced relaxing factor. In the normal physiological salt solution (PSS), the dose-response curves to A23187 and acetylcholine were overlapped together. Their effects were also inhibited by methylene blue. Upon application of hypoxanthine and xanthine oxidase into the bath, the phenylephrine-induced precontraction was transiently increased followed by the sustained relaxation. During the burst of hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase reaction, the $Ca^{++}$ ionophore, A23187 but not acetylcholine was able to cause an immediate relaxation. However, A23187-induced relaxation was not manifested when precontracted by 50 mM $K^+-PSS$. Nevertheless, in the presence of superoxide dismutase, A23187 could produce an immediate relaxation without accompanying the transient contraction as acetylcholine did during the hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase reaction. On the other hand, acetylcholine-induced relaxation was more sensitively inhibited by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) than A23187-induced relaxation. Endothelium-independent relaxation to sodium nitroprusside was not affected by PMA. Based on these results it is suggested that both A23187 and acetylcholine cause the methylene blue-inhibitable endothelium-dependent relaxation, and in addition, A23187 may release a stable EDRF which is resistant to superoxide anion and PMA.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.51-56
• /
• 1998

This study was carried out to evaluate environmental and ecological characteristics of natural habitat for cultivation of Epimedium koreanum. Habitat of E. koreanum was the slope foot of mountain descending gradually toward mostly northwest from top of mountain with slope of $2{\sim}20%$ and the altitude ranged from 60 to 400m above the sea level. Some physiochemical characteristics of habitat soil were as follows: pH, $4.1{\sim}5.8$, organic matters content, $4.9{\sim}6.6%$ and cation exchange capacity, $14.8{\sim}34.3\;me/100g$ soil, respectively. Habitats were shaded by deciduous broad-leaved tree mainly, and compared with those of naked area, relative photon flux density was $3.5{\sim}13.1%$ and relative luminance was $3.3{\sim}11.9%$ due to shading. Air temperature of habitat under shade was $4.3{\sim}6.5^{\circ}C$ lower than that of naked area. Habitat soil temperature was lower than that of naked area but temperature range was smaller than that of naked area. E. koreanum plants were growing with semishading plants under shade of tree leaf. From investigation of natural characteristics of habitat, it was concluded that E. koreanum plant would grow at place with a little change in temperature and moisture of soil which was caused by shading and mulching with litterfall of broad-leaved tree.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.12
• /
• pp.6391-6395
• /
• 2012

Background: Ovarian cancer is ranked as the fifth most common cause of cancer death in women. In Malaysia, it is the fourth most common cancer in females. CA125 has been the tumor marker of choice in ovarian cancer but its diagnostic specificity in early stages is only 50%. Hence, there is a critical need to identify an alternative tumor marker that is capable of detecting detect ovarian cancer at an early stage. HE4 is a new tumor marker proposed for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer and disease recurrence. Currently, none of the normal ranges of HE4 quoted in the literature are based on data for a multiethnic Asian population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine reference intervals for HE4 in an Asian population presenting in University Malaya Medical Centre, a tertiary reference hospital. Materials and Methods: 300 healthy women were recruited comprising 150 premenopausal and 150 postmenopausal women, aged from 20-76 years. All women were subjected to a pelvic ultrasonograph and were confirmed to be free from ovarian pathology on recruitment. Serum HE4 levels were determined by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA, Abbott Architect). The reference intervals were determined following CLSI guidelines (C28-A2) using a non-parametric method. Results: The upper limits of the $95^{th}$ percentile reference interval (90%CI) for all the women collectively were 64.6 pmol/L, and 58.4 pmol/L for premenopausal) and 69.0 pmol/L for postmenopausal. The concentration of HE4 was noted to increase with age especially in women who were more than 50 years old. We also noted that our proposed reference limit was lower compared to the level given by manufacturer Abbott Architect HE4 kit insert (58.4 vs 70 pmol/L for premenopausal group and 69.0 vs 140 pmol/L in the postmenopausal group). The study also showed a significant difference in HE4 concentrations between ethnic groups (Malays and Indians). The levels of HE4 in Indians appeared higher than in Malays (p<0.05), while no significant differences were noted between the Malays and Chinese ethnic groups. Conclusions: More data are needed to establish a reference interval that will better represent the multiethnic Malaysian population. Probably a larger sampling size of equal representation of the Malay, Chinese, Indians as well as the other native ethnic communities will give us a greater confidence on whether genetics plays a role in reference interval determination.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.449-458
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of infants' temperaments and eating behaviors, mothers' eating behaviors and feeding practices in poor eating infants. The participants were 80 infants of 12-24 months (27 poor eaters and 53 matched normal controls) from a hospital and a public health center. Mothers were questioned about their eating behaviors and feeding practices, and infants' temperaments, eating behaviors, and nutrient intakes by one day food recall. Subjects were divided by mean nutrient adequacy ratio (MAR, < 0.75; poor eater). Intakes of Ca, P, Fe, Zn, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin C, E, folate were below 75% RDA in poor eaters, whereas protein, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B$_6$, C, folate exceeded 125% RDA in good eaters. Rhythmicity of infants' temperaments and eating behaviors, restriction of mothers' eating behaviors and feeding practices were significantly lower, whereas activity levels of infants' temperaments were higher than good eaters. In multiple logistic regression model of poor eaters, activity of infants' temperaments (T, OR: 1.19, CI: 1.05 - 1.35) and attention spans of infants' eating behaviors (A, OR: 1.18, CI: 1.03 - 1.35) were significantly positive, whereas rhythmicity of infants' eating behaviors (R, OR: 0.79, CI: 0.61-0.94) was significantly negative [E (the legit) : -6.8644+0.1712$\times$T-0.2337$\times$R+0.1641$\times$A]. Our findings suggest that examination of eating behaviors, feeding practices, and temperaments will help target interventions to improve infants' food intakes, and these variables should be examined at the time of nutrition counseling.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.125-131
• /
• 1984

The horn fish, Hemiramphus sajori TEMMINCK et SCHLEGEL, is widely distributed in the coastal waters of Korea, Japan and Taiwan. On April 13, 1983, mature adults of the horn fish were collected from Changson channel, Namhae. The authors carried out artificial insemination on the field, and incubated the eggs and reared larvae in the laboratory. And these larvae were reared for about two weeks in glass jars, fed brine shrimp nauplii. The eggs of this species are demersal and adhesive, with 4 to 6 filaments at the animal pole and a filament at the vegetal pole. The diameter of these eggs varies 1.80 to 2.00 mm. The hatching took place in ca. 376 hours after fertilization. During the incubation period water temperature fluctuated between $13.5^{\circ}C\;and\;20.0^{\circ}C$. The newly hatched larvae were elongate in shape $7.40{\sim}8.00$ mm in total length with $40+16{\sim}17=56{\sim}57$ myomers. Many melanophore were distributed on the head, both sides of dorsal body contour, peritoneum and ventral line of the tail part. Four days after hatching, the larvae were from 9.00 to 9.65 mm in total length, at this tims the larvae absorbed the yolk completely, and became postlarvae. Fourteen days after hatching, the larvae attained 13.25 mm in total length, with 14 rays of the dorsal fin, 13 rays of the anal fin, and 4 rays of pectoral fin. The lower jaw has somewhat projected.