• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.81-92
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• 2006

Objectives : Recent studies have provided some clues with regard to the relationship existing between uncoupling proteins (UCPs) and blood pressure in animal experiments. In an attempt to determine the genetic polymorphisms of UCPs that are associated with blood pressure in humans, we have analyzed genetic polymorphisms in members of the UCP family, including UCP1, UCP2 and UCP3. Methods : In this study, we assessed the association between UCP genotypes and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), in a population comprised of 832 Korean female subjects, using a general linear model, which was adjusted for both age and BMI. Results : Among 14 SNPs and the haplotypes constructed from them, haplotype3 of UCP1 (UCP1-ht3) evidenced significant associations with SBP (P=0.0053) and DBP (P=0.0130). However, this haplotype was not significantly associated with obesity phenotypes, including BMI or fat mass (P>0.05), thereby suggesting that its association with blood pressure was not mediated by obesity phenotypes. Conclusions : The source of variations in SBP were determined to occur in the following order: BMI (12.8 %), age (1.2 %) and UCP1-ht3 (1.1 %). Although BMI appears to exert greater effects on blood pressure, the UCP1-ht3 genotype was also found to exert a significant effect.

• Biomedical Engineering Letters
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.399-404
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a mobile wireless digital automatic blood pressure monitor for clinical use and mobile health (mHealth). In this study, a manual sphygmomanometer and a digital blood pressure monitor were tested in 100 participants in a repetitive and sequential manner to measure blood pressure. The guidelines for measurement used the Korea Food & Drug Administration protocol, which reflects international standards, such as the American National Standard Institution/Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation SP 10: 1992 and the British Hypertension Society protocol. Measurements were generally consistent across observers according to the measured mean ${\pm}SD$, which ranged in $0.1{\pm}2.6mmHg$ for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and $0.5{\pm}2.2mmHg$ for diastolic blood pressure (DBP). For the device and the observer, the difference in average blood pressure (mean${\pm}$SD) was $2.3{\pm}4.7mmHg$ for SBP and $2.0{\pm}4.2mmHg$ for DBP. The SBP and DBP measured in this study showed accurate measurements that satisfied all criteria, including an average difference that did not exceed 5 mmHg and a standard deviation that did not exceed 8 mmHg. The mobile wireless digital blood pressure monitor has the potential for clinical use and managing one's own health.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.127-139
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• 2019

Purpose : The lipid profile is a major predictive index for cardiovascular disease, but there have only been a few studies conducted on the relationship between lipid ratio and cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Korean population. To address this research gap, we investigated the association between three lipid ratios and cardiovascular disease risk factors among Korean adults. Methods : This study used data from the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2016. Lipid ratios included triglyceride (TG)/high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), total cholesterol (TC)/HDL, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL)/HDL. Cardiovascular risk factors included in this research were: systolic blood pressure $(SBP){\geq}140$, diastolic blood pressure $(DBP){\geq}90$, fasting blood sugar $(FBS){\geq}126$, $HbA1c{\geq}6.5$, body mass index $(BMI){\geq}25$, waist circumference (WC) $men{\geq}90$, $women{\geq}85$, and metabolic syndrome (MetS). A complex samples logistic regression test was performed to analyze the association between lipid ratios and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Results : 1) TG/HDL ratio had statistically significant relationships with DBP, FBS, HbA1c, BMI, WC and MetS. 2) TC/HDL ratio was correlated to SBP, DBP, FBS, BMI, WC, and MetS. 3) LDL/HDL ratio had association with BMI, WC, and MetS. Conclusion : We identified significant association between lipid ratios and cardiovascular disease risk factors. The three lipid ratios were particularly strongly associated with BMI, WC, and MetS.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.949-955
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• 2022

Deep learning-based text summarization models are not free from datasets. For example, a summarization model trained with a news summarization dataset is not good at summarizing other types of texts such as internet posts and papers. In this study, we define this phenomenon as Data Bias Problem (DBP) and propose two training methods for solving it. The first is the 'proper nouns masking' that masks proper nouns. The second is the 'length variation' that randomly inflates or deflates the length of text. As a result, experiments show that our methods are efficient for solving DBP. In addition, we analyze the results of the experiments and present future development directions. Our contributions are as follows: (1) We discovered DBP and defined it for the first time. (2) We proposed two efficient training methods and conducted actual experiments. (3) Our methods can be applied to all summarization models and are easy to implement, so highly practical.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.303-313
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the relevance of cardiovascular disease risk factors AI and AIP, divided into three groups, among 300 individuals who underwent health checkups at the hospital. Various variables such as Age, Sex, BMI, WC, TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, FBS, HbA1C, SBP, DBP, HR, AI (TC/HDL-C), and AIP (log(TG/HDL-C)) were analyzed using statistical methods including frequency analysis, cross-tabulation, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis. The cross-analysis based on cardiovascular disease risk criteria revealed that men and individuals in their 50s had higher cardiovascular disease risk based on AI and AIP. Significant differences were observed in TG, TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, SBP, DBP, AI (TC/HDL-C), and AIP (log(TG/HDL-C)) according to AI criteria. For the AIP criteria, TG, TC, HDL-C, FBS, HbA1C, HR, AI (TC/HDL-C), and AIP (log(TG/HDL-C)) were identified as cardiovascular disease risk factors. FBS and HbA1c showed the highest positive correlation In the correlation analysis, followed by TC and LDL-C. The lowest positive correlation was observed between LDL-C and DBP. In terms of negative correlation, HDL-C and AI had the highest negative correlation, while LDL-C and TG showed the lowest negative correlation. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the AI and AIP risk criteria had explanatory powers of 73.6% and 72.5%, respectively. HDL-C had the greatest negative effect on the AI risk criterion, while TG had the most significant influence on the AIP risk criterion. In conclusion, while other serological variables are important, managing HDL-C and TG levels may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.443-454
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• 2010

Phthalate compounds are widely used as plasticizers in polyvinyl chlororide (PVC) resins and other industrial consumer products, and some of them are known to be endocrine disruptors. In Korea, a number of studies have been carried out for the measurement of phthalates in consumer products and drinking water. However, no data are available for those compounds in the ambient air where the general public are routinely exposed. In this study, we evaluated sampling and analytical methods for the determination of phthalates in the ambient atmosphere. A wide range of phthalates compounds were included in the target analytes, which are dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DOP). Most of samples were collected using a high volume sampler with a PUF/XAD-2 column/quartz fiber filter and then analyzed by GC/MS. Some of samples were simultaneously collected on XAD-2 using a low-volume sampler, together with high-volume samples. The analytical method applied in this study showed good repeatability and linearity. Quantitative detection limits were estimated from 0.60 to 17.84 ng/$m^3$ in air, depending on individual compounds. The field measurements were carried out at 3 sites located in Sihwa- Banwall industrial areas and a suburban area from January 2007 to November 2007. From the field experiments, DEHP, DMP and DBP appeared to be the most abundant compounds in the ambient air. It was also found that DMP, DEP and DBP were mainly distributed in the vapor phase, while BBP, DEHP and DOP were predominantly associated with the particulate phase. The concentrations of DEHP and DMP in the industrial areas ranged from 45.7 to 1,012.7 ng/$m^3$ and from 7.7 to 375.1 ng/$m^3$, respectively. Overall, the high-volume sampling method was demonstrated to be superior to the low-volume method for the determination of phthalates in the ambient atmosphere.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.212-220
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• 2015

This study aims to identify the characteristics of phthalates (DMP, DEP, DBP, DEHA, BBP, DEHP, and DNOP) and heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) in cosmetics and their containers. Phthalates and heavy metals may be endocrine distruptors. Sixty-five cosmetics were purchased from online and offline stores in Busan. This study developed a simultaneous method for the analysis of phthalates by GC-FID. The results showed that among the 65 cosmetics, DBP, DEHP, and DEP were detected at 20.0%, 7.7%, 1.5%, respectively. The amounts of DBP and DEHP detected in 18 samples were less than 100 μg/g, which satisfies the Regulations of Cosmetic Safety Standards in Korea. In order to detect phthalates in cosmetic containers, a dissolution test was conducted by extracting solutions, such as water, n-heptane, 20% ethanol, 50% ethanol and 4% acetic acid, which were prepared with different levels of pH, alcohol content, and fat content following the Korea Standards and Specifications for Utensils, Containers, and Packaging. The results showed that DMP, DBP, DEHA, BBP, DEHP, and DNOP were not detected, DEP was detected in plastics such as PE, PP, and others, when a 50% alcohol solvent was used. Phthalates may not be detected in cosmetic containers if they are not packaged with the above 20% alcohol constituent. We also analyzed the concentration of heavy metals, such as Pb, Cd, and Hg, by using ICP-OES and a mercury analyzer. The ranges of concentration were ND~2.71 μg/g for Pb, ND~0.31 μg/g for Cd, and ND~0.01 μg/g for Hg, which are below the regulated level.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.775-780
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• 2009

The efficacy of nitrifying sludge existed in biological nutrient removal process was examined for possible removal of endocrine disrupting chemical(EDC) in the effluent of wastewater treatment plant. Some of ammonia oxidizing bacteria causes ammonia oxidation mediated by ammonia monooxygenase(AMO) activity, which has low substrate specificity resulting in cometablic degradation of several chemicals. In this study, the removal of three model EDCs such as bisphenol A(BPA), nonylphenol(NP) and dibutyl phthalate(DBP) was studied in batch cultures using nitrifying sludge, BOD-oxidizing sludge with low nitrifying activity, and sterilized sludge. Nitrifying sludge showed higher initial removal rates in all batches of three EDCs when it was fed with ammonium as an energy source. The acclimation time was required for the removal of EDCs in batches using BOD-oxidizing sludge or nitritefed nitrifying sludge. That retardation seemed to attribute to the slow growth of cells using the EDCs while ammonium-fed nitrifying sludge could degrade EDCs through simultaneous cooxidation with ammonia oxidation. Sterilized sludge was also tested under the same conditions in order to find the contribution of physical adsorption to the removal of EDCs. About 10~20% of initial EDCs dose was removed when using sterilized sludge. Thus the biological activity is likely to play major role for the degradation of BPA, NP, and DBP rather than the physical adsorption from wastewater.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2012

An effective, environmentally friendly analytic methods using gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detector (GC-MSD) have been developed for the quantitative analysis of trace phthalate levels in cosmetics such as nail lacquer and hair spray. Since such cosmetics are largely comprised of organic solvents, conventional clean-up methods that have been widely used for phthalate analyses are in adequate. In addition, analysis of trace phthalate levels is notorious for its sensitivity to contamination, which causes high analytical values. A direct sample dilution method using an organic solvent was adopted to the sample preparation process to determine the exact amounts of phthalates and simultaneously avoid the high risk of secondary contamination. The method has many advantages including high accuracy, sensitivity, and simplicity in sample preparation. Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were selected for analysis because they have been frequently detected in cosmetics and consistently reported as endocrine disruptors in humans and animals. Internal standard method using two deuterium substitutes (DBP-$d_4$, DEHP-$d_4$) as the internal standard was also used. The results of 'Method validation' showed the capabilities of this method for the routine analysis of phthalates at the ppm level. The recovery ranges were between 95 % and 106.1 %, and relative standards deviations (RSD) were less than 3.9 % in fortified nail lacquer and hair spray samples at the concentration of $25{\mu}g/g$.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.126-135
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• 1993

Perchlorate ion-selective PVC membrane electrode responsive to $10^{-6}M$ was developed by incorporating the ion-pair complex of perchlorate with the quaternary ammonium salts as a active material. The effect of chemical structure, the content of active material, the kinds of plasticizers, and the membrane thickness on the electrode characteristics such as the linear response range and Nernstian slope of the electrode were studied. With the results, the useful pH range and the selectivity coefficients to various interfering anions were compared and investigated. It was obtained that the effect of the chemical structure of an active material on the electrode characteristics was improved with increasing the alkyl chain length of the quarternary ammonium salts in the ascending order of Aliquat 336P, TOAP, TDAP, and TDDAP. The electrode characteristics was improved with the decrease of the active material content below the optimum membrane composition, and DBP was the best as a plasticizer. The optimum membrane composition was 9.09wt% of TDDAP, 30.3wt% of PVC, and 60.6wt% of ptasticizer(DBP). And the optimum membrane thickness was0.45mm at this composition. Under the above condition, thelinear response ranger was $10^{-1}~1.2 {\times} 10^{-6}M$, and the detection limit was $5.1{\times}10^{-7}M$ with the Nernstian slope of 57mV/decade of activity of perchlorate ion. The electrode potential was stable within the pH range from 4 to 11. The selectivity coefficient was as shown below : $SCN^->I^->NO_3^->Br^->ClO_3^->F^->Cl^->SO_4^{2-}$