• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.53-62
• /
• 2008

In the present study, the concentration levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) in the environments in Korea are estimated based on some measured data in Korea, in comparison with the data from the other countries. Even though PCBs were banned as electrical fluids in 1970s in Korea, PCBs are still detected in the environment. PCBs levels in Korea are greatly lower than those in other countries, which are gradually decreased as well. However, the measured data are not sufficient in both numbers and quality, to estimate the average PCBs levels in Korea. The regulation limit on polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) is 2mg/kg (ppm), which is too low compared to 50 ppm of many other countries including U.S. With this strict regulation, there are many problems expected, for example, in the analysis of PCBs in the transformers using in the field as well as the safe treatment of PCBs. The risk assessment on the PCBs in the environment is surely necessary prior to the change in the limit. Also the PCBs concentration monitoring in the environmental media (i.e. air, water, soil and sediment) and exposure assessment will be essential for the accurate risk assessment. If the PCB-waste guideline maintain as 2 ppm after 10 years, the excess cancer risk of PCBs exposure by ambient air, drinking water and soil was $10^{-8}$. But if the guideline mitigate as 50 ppm after 10 years, the cancer risk was increased by $10^{-7}$. The ecological risk quotient by regulation change was not exceed '1'.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.10 no.7
• /
• pp.317-325
• /
• 2010

This study aims to deduct the extensive improvement types of leisure activities of private security agents using PPA technique and to examine the influence of leisure constraint on the index of participation. Through this process, this study consequently will draw the priority list of investment on the policy for improving the welfare status of private security agents. In this study, judgement sampling was applied to 6 security agencies located in Seoul, 2010, and 267 cases were used in the final analysis. Collected data went through factor analysis, reliability analysis, paired t test, PPA analysis, and regression analysis by using SPSSWIN 17.0. The conclusions were drawn as follows. In regard to the reliability, Cronbach's $\alpha$ was over .768. First, there was a difference between the preference rate and the participation rate which are the participation index of the private security agents' leisure activities. concentrate here in leisure types turned out to be fitness activities, walking/jogging, tourism, a day-long travel, and keep up the cood work in leisure types are movies, domestic tourist attractions, dating, eating out, personal relationship, watching sports, reading, karaoke, TV video watching, drinking etc. low priority in leisure types are water sports, hiking, biking, soccer, photography, ball games, sky sports, playing go/janggi, inline skates, and cooking. Second, the leisure constraint affects the participation index of leisure activities. As the personal constraint, and surrounding conscious constraint which are the subordinate factors of the leisure constraint get bigger, the participation index of favored leisure activities become lower. In contrast, when the difficulties such as structural constraint, time and economical constraint are overcome, participation index of leisure activities go on the rise.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.125-143
• /
• 2005

The purposes of this study were to investigate the characteristics of lifestyle and dietary habits of the colorectal cancer patients in Daegu and Kyungpook areas and to collect the data useful for nutrition education for the prevention of colorectal cancer in this community. The case subjects of the study were 123 patients diagnosed recently as colorectal cancer at Kyungpook National University Hospital. The control subjects were 182 persons who did not have any gastrointestinal diseases, including the patients from the department of orthopedic surgery and healthy volunteers. The survey covering general characteristics, life style, dietary habits, eating behaviors, and food intake frequency was administered by individual interviews using questionnaires. The results of the study suggest that high BMI, daily life stress, pessimistic personality, lack of physical activities, and familial cancer history might be the possible risk factors for the incidence of colorectal cancer. Dietary factors suspected as risk factors for colorectal cancer in the present study included strong preferences to meats, salty and fatty taste foods, low intake of water, alcohol drinking, smoking, coffee intake and irregular eating habits. A high consumption of seaweeds, green-yellow vegetables, light-colored vegetables, and green tea was suggested as a preventive factor for colorectal cancer. It is recommended to conduct more extensive and systematic surveys in the near future to reconfirm the risk factors of colorectal cancer in consideration of the characteristic food culture in this community. The results of the present study may be applied to nutritional education for the prevention of colorectal cancer for the local residents. (Korean J Nutrition 38(2): 125～143, 2005)

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.18-26
• /
• 2012

Background: Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for maintaining human life. Vitamin C insufficiency in the plasma is closely related with the development of scurvy. However, in vivo kinetics of vitamin C regarding its storage and consumption is still largely unknown. Methods: We used $Gulo^{-/-}$ mice, which cannot synthesize vitamin C like human. Vitamin C level in plasma and organs from $Gulo^{-/-}$ mice was examined, and it compared with the level of wild-type mice during 5 weeks. Results: The significant weight loss of $Gulo^{-/-}$ mice was shown at 3 weeks after vitamin C withdrawal. However, there was no differences between wild-type and vitamin C-supplemented $Gulo^{-/-}$ mice (3.3 g/L in drinking water). The concentration of vitamin C in plasma and organs was significantly decreased at 1 week after vitamin C withdrawal. Vitamin C is preferentially deposited in adrenal gland, lymph node, lung, and brain. There were no significant changes in the numbers and CD4/CD8 ratio of splenocytes in $Gulo^{-/-}$ mice with vitamin C withdrawal for 4 weeks. And the architecture of spleen in $Gulo^{-/-}$ mice was disrupted at 5 weeks after vitamin C withdrawal. Conclusion: The vitamin C level of $Gulo^{-/-}$ mice was considerably decreased from 1 week after vitamin C withdrawal. Vitamin C is preferentially stored in some organs such as brain, adrenal gland and lung.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.398-404
• /
• 2005

Radioprotection is of practical importance for the normal tissues of tumor patients subject to radiotherapy, people with planned or accidental exposure to radiation, and the public and radiation workers. Since oxygen enhances radiation - induced biological damage, antioxidants should be related with the function as a radioprotectors. Ascorbic acid or caffeine is an essential component and antioxidant in the diet of humans and a small range of other mammals. The present study investigates functional radioprotection of caffeine and ascorbic acid against gamma radiation in irradiated C57BL/6N mice. Eight-week-old male C57BL/6N mice were irradiated with 6.5 Gy. A caffeine treated group was administered with $80mg\;kg^{-1}$ body weight by intraperitoneal injection, a single treatment 1 hr before irradiation. Ascorbic acid was administered $330\;mg\;L^{-1}$ in drinking water through all the experimental period. According to time schedules, animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. And the samples were collected 2 weeks after whole- body gamma irradiation. The caffeine treated group showed lower decrement of body and organ weights than the other experimental groups. The qualitative analysis of circulating testosterone in serum was performed by means of radioimmunoassay (RIA). The normal level of circulating testosterone was maintained by the treatment of caffeine and ascorbic acid. The change of weight of body and organ and the appearance of seminiferous tubules were improved by an effect of caffeine or ascorbic acid against irradiation. Taken together, caffeine and ascorbic acid protects impairment of spermatogenesis against gamma radiation and may act as a radio-protector.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.17-21
• /
• 2013

The objectives in the present study were to evaluate the therapeutic effect of a sodium salts mixture against Salmonella gallinarum infection in broiler. Of this study, sixty broilers at two weeks of age (body weight, $450{\pm}35$ g) were used to estimate the efficacy of a sodium salts mixture (3.25 mg sodium azide, 2.45 mg sodium cyanide, 0.8 g sodium chlorate) against Salmonella gallinarum infection in broiler with drinking water. Broilers challenged with S. gallinarum were administered with ${\times}$ 1(group I) and ${\times}$ 2(group II) sodium salt mixture for seven days, and cecal content samples were collected at the gate of treatment and on 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th day after administration. Changes in body weight and cecal shedding of S. gallinarum were monitored during the experimental period. All groups treated with the sodium salt mixture slightly increased body weight compared to control group but there is no significant difference. At 7th day after administration, the number of S. gallinarum in group I and II was significantly decreased compared to control group (p < 0.001). In the hematological and blood biochemical analysis, values of parameters were not significantly different between the treated groups and control group. From results of the present study, the sodium salt mixture had therapeutic effect on S. gallinarum infection in broilers.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.303-313
• /
• 2012

Cyanobacteria are well known for their production of a multitude of highly toxic and / or allelopathic compounds. Among the photosynthetic microorganisms, cyanobacteria, belonging to the genus Nostoc are regarded as good candidate for producing biologically active secondary metabolites which are highly toxic to humans and other animals. Since so many reports have been published on the poisoning of different animals from drinking water contaminated with cyanobacteria toxins, it might be assumed that bioactive compounds are found only in aquatic species causes toxicity. However, the discovery of several dead dogs, mice, ducks, and fish around paddy fields, prompted us to study the toxic compounds in a strain of Nostoc which is most abundant in the paddy fields of Iran, using polymerase chain reaction and liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector and mass spectrophotometer. Results of molecular analysis demonstrated that the ASN_M strain contains the nosF gene. Also, the result of ion chromatograms and $MS^2$ fragmentation patterns showed that while there were three different peptidic compound classes (anabaenopeptin, cryptophycin, and nostocyclopeptides), there were no signs of the presence of anatoxin-a, homoanatoxin-a, hassallidin or microcystins. Moreover, a remarkable antifungal activity was identified in the methanolic extracts. Based on the results, this study suggests that three diverse groups of potentially bioactive compounds might account for the death of these animals. This case is the first documented incident of toxicity from aquatic cyanobacteria related intoxication in dogs, mice, and aquatic organisms in Iran.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.12
• /
• pp.2082-2089
• /
• 2015

Avian beta-defensin 9 (AvBD9) is a small cationic peptide consisting of 41 amino acids that plays a crucial rule in innate immunity and acquired immunity in chickens. Owing to its wide antibacterial spectrum, lack of a residue, and failure to induce bacterial drug resistance, AvBD9 is expected to become a substitute for conventional antibiotics in the livestock and poultry industries. Using the preferred codon of Pichia pastoris, the mature AvBD9 peptide was designed and synthesized, based on the sequence from GenBank. The P. pastoris constitutive expression vector pGHKα was used to construct a pGHKα-AvBD9 recombinant plasmid. Restriction enzyme digestion was performed using SacI and BglII to remove the ampicillin resistance gene, and the plasmid was electrotransformed into P. pastoris GS115. High-expression strains with G418 resistance were screened, and the culture supernatant was analyzed by Tricine-SDS-PAGE and western blot assay to identify target bands of about 6 kDa. A concentrate of the supernatant containing AvBD9 was used for determination of antimicrobial activity. The supernatant concentrate was effective against Escherichia coli, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella pullorum, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, and Enterobacter cloacae. The fermentation product of P. pastoris carrying the recombinant AvBD9 plasmid was adjusted to 1.0 × 10⁸ CFU/ml and added to the drinking water of white feather broilers at different concentrations. The daily average weight gain and immune organ indices in broilers older than 7 days were significantly improved by the AvBD9 treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.72-84
• /
• 1994

This is about an environmental study of groundwater interference by hydrodynamic dispersion between the well A and well C in Dongsam-dong, the Yeongdo Island, Pusan, Korea. The groundwater in the study wells come from the fracture zones deeply seated in welded lapilli rhyodacitic tuff of the Late Cretaceous Yucheon Group. The boring depth at the well A is 190 meters, and the optimal pumping rate of the well A is about 100 cubic meters per day therein. The fractured aquifers in impermeable welded tuff show the conjugate fracturing type and are of anisotropic. The aquifers along two fracture zones in the well A are 80 and 100 meters in depth, respectively. It is not suggested that those fractured aquifers are simply connected between the well A and C. The sea level fluctuation by ebb and high tides in a day is not effective to the groundwater table in the well A. The pumping for 15 days at the well A doesn't give rise to any changes of the groundwater levels in the neighbor well C. The radius of influence of the well A is measured as less than 200 meters. The measuring electric conductivity for the test of salt tracer doesn't testify any relationship between the well A and the well C. There is the main difference between the well A and the well C on the basis of the water analysis of those wells. the well A is located in the high content zone of salt much over the standard value for drinking, whereas the other wells B. C. D are in the low content area of salt below the standard value. It is elucidated for the high content zone of salt in Yeongdo around the well A to have been uplifted over 20 meters.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.405-411
• /
• 2007

Gal-13 is an antimicrobial peptide isolated from chicken intestine. Ninety chickens were randomly divided into two groups (45 chickens for each group) to determine the effect of oral administration of Gal-13 on the acquired immune response. The chickens in the first group were fed a diet without Gal-13 as the control, and the chickens in the second group were fed the same diet, except that Gal-13 ($1{\mu}g/ml$) was suspended in drinking water just after hatching. Samples of blood, thymus, bursa of fabricius and spleen were taken at day 1, 4, 7, 10 and 17. The chickens in both groups received infectious bursal disease virus vaccine at day 20, and then sera samples were collected for analysis at 14, 21, 28 and 35 days after vaccination. The results showed: (1) Gal-13 could enhance the content of immunoglobulin (Ig)G at the age of 4 to10 days (p<0.05) and IgM at the age of 4 and 10 days (p<0.05) in the serum; (2) In vitro experiments showed that Gal-13 (0.625-1.250${\mu}g/ml$) enhanced the proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes of the chickens stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and concanavlin A (ConA). Compared to the control, Gal-13 (1 ${\mu}g/ml$) enhanced the proliferation of bursa lymphocytes at 17 days of age (p<0.01) and thymus lymphocytes at 7 days of age (p<0.01), but restrained lymphocyte proliferation in chicken spleen and differed significantly at day 10 (p<0.01); (3) Gal-13 enhanced infectious bursal disease virus antibody in sera of chickens 21 days after infectious bursal disease virus vaccine administration (p<0.05). These results suggested that Gal-13 could modulate adaptive immune responses of chickens.