• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.127-133
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• 2011

The comet assay, also called single-cell electrophoresis (SCGE) assay, is a potential sensitive monitoring tool for DNA damage in cells. The primary objective of this study was to use comet assay to ascertain if the blood cells of flounder (Pleuronichthys olivaceus) and muscle cells of clam (Saxidomus purpurata) are suitable for genotoxicity screening. This was achieved by initially exposing blood and muscle cells under in vitro conditions to the reference genotoxin hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$); strong correlation between $H_2O_2$ concentration and comet values were found. Subsequently, the identification of DNA damage in isolated cells from flounder and clam was performed under in vivo exposure to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and tributyltin (TBT). Flounder and clam were exposed to different concentrations (1, 10, 50, 100 ${\mu}g/L$) of BaP or TBT for 4 days. Regardless of treated chemicals, blood cells of flounder were more prone to DNA breakage compared to muscle cells of clam. In conclusion, in vivo genotoxicity of BaP and TBT can be biomonitored using the comet assay. This study suggests that flounder and clam do show potential as mediums for monitoring genotoxic damage by comet assay.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.215-223
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• 2014

In this paper, we report the analysis of Korean historical records on the periodic Halley's comet according to the period (i.e., the Three Kingdoms, Goryeo Dynasty, and Joseon Dynasty) using various sources such as the Samguksagi (The History of the Three Kingdoms), Goryeosa (The History of the Goryeo Dynasty), and Joseonwangjosillok (The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty). With regards to the apparition time of the comet for each return, we referred to the works of Kronk. For the Three Kingdoms period, we could not find any record relevant to Halley's comet from the Samguksagi. Furthermore, we examined the suggestion that the phenomenon of "two Suns" which appeared on April 1, 760 (in a luni-solar calendar), as recorded in the Samgukyusa (The Legends and History of the Three Kingdoms), indicates an instance of the the daytime appearance of Halley's comet. In contrast with the Three Kingdoms period, we found that all returns of Halley's comet are recorded during the Goryeo Dynasty, although others have questioned some accounts. We also found that the appearance of Halley's comet in 1145 is mentioned in a spirit-path stele made in 1178. For the Joseon Dynasty period, we found that all apparitions of the comet are recorded, as with the Goryeo Dynasty, except for the return of 1910, at which time the former dynasty had fallen. In conclusion, we think that this study will be helpful for understanding Korean historical accounts on Halley's comet.

• International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.6-23
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• 1994

A disconnection event (DE) of the cometary plasma tail is one of most spectacular phenomena observed in comets. Yet, for years it has remained one of the great unsolved problems I astronomy and space physics. The solar wind is thought to play a major role in the creation of comet plasma tail (type Ⅰ) disconnection events. The goal of this paper is to present a mechanism that explains the disconnection event in terms of the local conditions at the comet. Comparison of the solar wind conditions and 16 DEs in Halley's comet shows that DEs are associated primarily with crossings of the heliospheric sector boundary and apparently not with any other properties of the solar wind, such as a high speed stream[Yi et al., 1994]. A 3-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulation in this paper supports this association by showing that only front-side magnetic reconnection between the reversed interplanetary magnetic fields that exist when a comet crosses the heliospheric sector boundary [Niedner and Brandt, 1978] could reproduce the morphology of a DE, including ray formation [Brandt, 1982].

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.213-222
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• 2002

The alkaline comet assay has been used with increasing popularity to investigate the level of DNA damage in biomonitoring studies within the last decade in Western countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the alkaline comet assay as a biomarker of oxidative DNA damage for monitoring in the Korean population, and also to evaluate the effect of nutritional status and lifestyle factors on H2O2 induced oxidative DNA damage measured by the alkaline comet assay in human lymphocytes. The study population consisted of 61 healthy Korean male volunteers, aged 20-28. Epidemiological background data including dietary habits, smoking habits and anthropometrical measurements were collected through personal interviews. After blood collection, the comet assay in peripheral lymphocytes and plasma lipids analysis was carried out and the results analyzed. Tail moment (TM) and tail length (TL) of the comet assay were use\ulcorner to measure DNA damage in the lymphocytes of the subjects. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations were observed between DNA damage (TM or TL) and smoking habits expressed as cigarettes smoked per day and pack years (r = 0.311 and 0.382 for TM, r = 0.294 and 0.350 for TL, respectively). There were also significant positive correlations between DNA damage parameter and waist-hip ratio. Higher plasma triglyceride levels were associated with increased damage to DNA. There were no correlations between the consumption frequencies of vegetables and DNA damage to the subjects. However, consumption frequencies of fruit and fruit juice intake were inversely associated with the TM and TL. The results indicate that die comet assay is a simple, rapid and sensitive method for detecting lymphocyte DNA damage induced by cigarette smoking. Consumption of fruit or fruit juices could potentiall modify the damaged DNA in the human peripheral lymphocytes of young Korean men.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 1997.12a
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• pp.101-101
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• 1997

Comet assay, single cell gel electrophoresis has been known as useful, rapid, simple, visual, and sensitive technique for measuring the DNA breakage in mammalian ce1ls. For evaluation of DNA damage using comet assay, early studies reported a change in comet length and intensity with DNA damage using simple visual technique, such as fluorescence microscopy with eyespiece. In recent, some workers are observing and analyzing nucleotide of comets using quantitative fluorescence image analysis system to estimate 'tail moment', which is defined as the product of the tail length and the fraction of total DNA in tail. Our laboratory also adopted the image analysis software for qualification. In addition, many of the practical features of comet assay render it potentially attractive as useful tool for molecular toxicology and carcinogenesis, because the system is already showing considerable promise as rapid predictor in both in vitro and in vivo experimental designs. Recently, the comet assay becomes a attractive technique to study of apoptosis, because apoptotic fragmentation of nuclear DNA into nucleosomal sizes can be evaluated by the comet assay. So, we attempted to apply the comet assay to studying the effect of various stress on the apoptosis-sensitive cell lines. Particularly, focusing on the hyperthermic apoptosis, we could find that heat shock(44˚C for 60 minutes) was sufficient to induced apoptosis in these cell lines. But using the highly sensitive comet assay, we could not detect DNA breaks immediately after heat shock.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.209-213
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• 1991

Early maturing hybrids(Comet 80, Comet 85 and Linda) and mid-late maturing hybrid (Suwon 19) were grown at Suwon to study the influence of maturity, plant population, and sowing date (45, 55, and 65 days delayed from the recommended sowing date of Suwon 19) on the dry matter yields, percentage ears and TDN yields. Com was planted at the density of 60 x 20, 50 x 20 and 40 x 20 em. Dry matter yields were not significantly different between the early and mid-late maturing hybrids in the delayed sowing time, but significantly higher in 20 x 50cm of planting density in early maturing hybrids. As sowing was delayed to Jun. 22 ear content decreased from 40.3% (early maturing hybrid) to 6.7% (Suwon 19). This resulted in significantly 24.1% higher TDN yield in Comet 85 than in Suwon 19.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.63-66
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• 2014

Since Rigollet first discovered a comet in 1939, many follow-up observations have been made, particularly in Europe. It is now known that the Rigollet comet is identical with the one observed by Herschel in 1788, and thus it is now called 35P/1939 O1 or the Herschel-Rigollet comet. Yumi, a Japanese astronomer, also observed the Rigollet comet in Korea using a 6-inch refractor telescope, and published his data in two Japanese journals (Bulletin of the Observatory of the Government-General of Korea and Publication of the Lecture on Meteorology). In his paper, Yumi also referred to observations by Hirose and Kanda in Japan. However, their works have not been given attention by international society. In this study, we analyze the observation data of Yumi and present preliminary orbital elements using it with a modified Gauss method. We expect that this study will be used to refine the orbital elements of the Rigollet comet by orbital-calculation experts. For that reason, we have also transcribed all the observational data presented by Yumi.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.747-754
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• 2000

DNA damages in post-mortem bovine muscle samples caused by gamma irradiation at doses of 1 to 10 kGy were determined by Comet assay. When the cell extract was prepared in a physical method and followed by neutral lysis and neutral electrophoresis, the optimal comet images could be obtained. DNA damages were evaluated from the mean tail length, the distributions of comet images in 4 groups divided by tail length and the relative damage index (RDI) values calculated from the distribution pattern. The mean tail length and RDI value were increased by increasing the irradiation dose, and the RDI value was found to be useful as an index for discriminating of irradiation and measuring the irradiated dose. Blind tests using Korean domestic (Hanwoo) and imported beef samples showed a higher RDI value for the latter. However, the value was lower than those of irradiated samples indicating that the cause of DNA damages in the imported beef samples might be not irradiation but low-temperature treatments. It was concluded from the results of this study that the irradiated beef and its irradiated dose could be detected and predicted by Comet assay.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2002

The detection characteristics of gamma-irradiated $(0{\sim}4\;kGy)$ soybeans produced in Korea and China were investigated by thermoluminescene (TL), electron spin resonance (ESR), and DNA comet assay. The TL glow curves were shown at around $200^{\circ}C$ for irradiated soybeans, while that at $280^{\circ}C$ for the non-irradiated one. The normalization with a re-irradiation step at 1 kGy could verify the above detection results. The Korean soybean showed higher glow curves than Chinese did. The ESR spectroscopy for husks of irradiated soybeans revealed specific signals (g = 2.02374, 1.98715) derived from cellulose radical, which intensities were proportional to irradiation does, with the higher peaks in Chinese sample than Korean one. The DNA comet for the non-irradiated sample showed no or little tails, while those for irradiated samples above 0.5 kGy were remarkably changed in their length, size, and concentration, thus resulting in distinguishing non-irradiated from irradiated samples. As a result, TL, ESR, and DNA comet determinations were found suitable for the detection of irradiated soybean at 0.5 kGy or more, and negligible differences were observed between Korean and Chinese origins in their detection characteristics.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.225-230
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• 2004

We employed single cell gel electrophoresis method (comet assay) to analyze the degree of nucleus-DNA damage in the leaves of red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) seedlings exposed to $^{60}$ CO v-radiation stress. Nucleus-DNA damage was measured as the ratio of tail length (T) to head length (H) in individual comet image isolated from pepper leaf cell. The T/H ratio of control-cells and treated-cells at 50 or 100 Gy were 1.28 and 3.54 or 3.39, respectively, suggesting that nuclei of pepper cells were severely damaged in the integrity of DNA strand by the treatment of enhanced v-radiation. The percentage of head-DNA in control-cells was 76.8%, whereas those of 50 and 100 Gy treated-cells were 55.9% and 59.9%, respectively. Pretreatment of low dose (4 to 20 Gy) radiation to seeds decreased DNA-damage in the leaves of seedlings treated with high dose radiation at 50 or 100 Gy. In this experiment, we developed a sensitive, reliable and rapid method for evaluating genotoxic effect in the nuclei of plant cells by employing comet assay.