• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.345-351
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• 2018

We employed an unprecedented technique to synthesize porous $WO_3@SnO_2$ nanofibers exhibiting core-shell and fiber-in-tube configurations. Firstly, 2-methylimidazole was uniformly incorporated in as-spun nanofibers containing ammonium metatungstate hydrate and the sacrificial polymer (polyacrylonitrile). Secondly, the 2-methylimidazole on the surfaces of nanofibers was complexed with tin(II) chloride ($SnCl_2$) via simple impregnation of the as-spun nanofibers in ethanol containing tin(II) chloride dihydrate ($SnCl_2{\cdot}2H_2O$). The presence of vacant p-orbitals in tin (Sn) and the nucleophilic nitrogen on the imidazole ring allowed for the reaction between $SnCl_2$ and 2-methylimidazole, forming adducts on the surfaces of the as-spun nanofibers. The calcination of these nanofibers resulted in porous $WO_3@SnO_2$ nanofibers with a higher surface area ($55.3m^2{\cdot}g^{-1}$) and a better response to 1-5 ppm of acetone than pristine $SnO_2$ NFs synthesized using a similar method. An improved response to acetone was achieved upon functionalization of the $WO_3@SnO_2$ nanofibers with catalytic palladium nanoparticles. This work demonstrates the potential application of $WO_3@SnO_2$ nanofibers as sensing layers for chemiresistive sensory devices for the detection of acetone in exhaled breath.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2016

In this work, we prepared porous WO3 nanofibers (NFs) functionalized by bio-inspired catalytic $Cr_2O_3$ and $Co_3O_4$ nanoparticles as highly sensitive and selective $H_2S$ gas sensing layers. Highly porous 3-dimensional (3D) NFs networks decorated by well-dispersed catalyst NPs exhibited superior $H_2S$ gas response ($R_{air}/R_{gas}$ = 46 at 5 ppm) in high humidity environment (95 %RH). In particular, the sensors showed outstanding $H_2S$ selectivity against other interfering analytes (such as acetone, toluene, CO, $H_2$, ethanol). Exhaled breath sensors using $Cr_2O_3$ and $Co_3O_4$ catalysts-loaded $WO_3$ NFs are highly promising for the accurate detection of halitosis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.404-413
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• 2019

Objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) is an important cause of mortality in workers exposed to hazardous dust, such as crystalline silica or coal, and COPD is related to inflammation and oxidative stress in the lung. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of oxidative stress and inflammation to COPD in retired workers exposed to mineral dust. Methods: The levels of malondialdehyde(MDA) in EBC as biomarkers for oxidative stress and C-reactive protein(CRP) and lactate dehydrogenase(LD) as biomarkers for inflammation were measured in 107 male subjects(63 pneumoconiosis and 42 COPD subjects). Results: Mean levels of EBC MDA(2.03 nmol/L vs. 4.65 nmol/L, p=0.010) and serum LD(170.3 U/L vs. 185.9 U/L, p=0.022) were significantly higher in subjects with COPD, but mean levels of serum CRP(p=0.469) did not show a statistical difference between the study groups. Level of EBC MDA was negatively correlated with ${%}FEV_1$ predicted(r=-0.279, p=0.004) and ${%}FEV_1/FVC$ ratio(r=-0.397, p<0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest that EBC is a useful biological matrix for investigation of respiratory oxidative stress. High levels of EBC MDA and serum LD are related to COPD in retired workers exposed to mineral dust.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.277-284
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• 1995

There has been an increased awareness of the need to confirm the chloroform exposure associated with using chlorinated household water. Ten of a 30-minute tub bath were normally taken by two volunteers in a bathroom of an apartment. Chloroform concentrations were measured in bathing water and bathroom air, and exhaled breath of the subjects prior to and after bathing. Bathing using chlorinated tap water resulted in a chloroform exposure and caused a body burden. Based on the difference of chloroform concentrations between breath samples collected prior to and after bathing, the chloroform body burden from a 30-minute bath was estimated to be about 8 to 26 folds higher than that prior to the bath. The mean water and bathroom air chloroform concentrations measured to evaluate the body burden were $9.4\mu\textrm{g}/l$ and TEX>$14.9\mu\textrm{g}/m^3$, respectively. The chloroform level of the bathroom air was 각 to 130 times higher than that of the living-room air. The relationship between the bathroom air and the corresponding breath chloroform concentrations were significant with p=0.03 and $R^2=0.47$.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.125-125
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• 1995

There has been an increased awareness of the need to confirm the chloroform exposure associated with using chlorinated household water. Ten of a 30-minute tub bath were normally taken by two volunteers in a bathroom of an apartment. Chloroform concentrations were measured in bathing water and bathroom air, and exhaled breath of the subjects prior to and after bathing. Bathing using chlorinated tap water resulted in a chloroform exposure and caused a body burden. Based on the difference of chloroform concentrations between breath samples collected prior to and after bathing, the chloroform body burden from a 30-minute bath was estimated to be about 8 to 26 folds higher than that prior to the bath. The mean water and bathroom air chloroform concentrations measured to evaluate the body burden were $9.4\mu\textrm{g}/l$ and TEX>$14.9\mu\textrm{g}/m^3$, respectively. The chloroform level of the bathroom air was 각 to 130 times higher than that of the living-room air. The relationship between the bathroom air and the corresponding breath chloroform concentrations were significant with p=0.03 and $R^2=0.47$.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.393-400
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• 2023

Acetone, a metabolite detected from the exhaled breath of people doing a diet, can be used for non-invasive monitoring of diet efficiency. Thus, gas sensors with rapid response and recovery characteristics to acetone need to be developed. Herein, we report ultrafast acetone sensors using Ce-doped In₂O₃ nanoparticles prepared by the one-pot microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The pure In₂O₃ sensor shows a high response and fast response time (τ_res = 6 s) upon exposure to 2 ppm acetone at 300 ℃, while exhibiting a relatively sluggish recovery speed (τ_recov = 1129 s). When 20 wt% Ce is doped, the τ_recov of the sensor significantly decreased to 45 s withholding the fast-responding characteristic (τ_res = 6 s). In addition, the acetone response (resistance ratio, S) of the sensor is as high as 5.8, sufficiently high to detect breath acetone. Moreover, the sensor shows similar acetone sensing characteristics even under a highly humid condition (relative humidity of 60%) in terms of τ_res (6 s), τ_recov (47 s), and S (4.7), demonstrating its high potential in real applications. The excellent acetone sensing characteristics of Ce-doped In₂O₃ nanoparticles are discussed in terms of their size, composition, phase, and oxygen adsorption on the sensing surface.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2016

Gastric cancer is the fifth most common malignancy in the world and still remains the third and fifth leading cause of cancer death in male and female, respectively. In terms of the cancer survival, the survival of gastric cancer is low in the West with showed 5-year survival rates of 10-30%, whereas the survival rates in Asia is more than 50%. The reason of the higher survival rate from gastric cancer in Asia partially related with the availability of gastric cancer screening programs, however, the population-based screening for gastric cancer has been conducted just in Korea and Japan. Therefore, more effective method for detecting the gastric cancer is needed for countries without a population-based gastric cancer screening. Endoscopy is the most effective method for diagnosis of gastric cancer however, it requires a large infrastructure including a large number of endoscopic equipment and well-trained endoscopists. To overcome these problems, several noninvasive methods (such as serologic markers, biomarkers, cancer autoantibodies, and exhaled breath analysis) for diagnosis of gastric cancer screening are suggested. This review addresses the conventional methods and the emerging methods for gastric cancer screening.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.74-94
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of education between CAI(Computer Assisted Instruction) and lectures for smoking cessation among male students who attended vocational high schools. Conducted from February 24th to April 26th, 2003, the study design was quasi-experimental with nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The study subjects were 60 male students in K vocational high school in Daegu city, who were present smokers and had more than 7.0 ppm concentration level of carbon monoxide. Thirty students were randomly chosen as the experimental group which applied CAI education method for smoking cessation. The other 30 students served as the control group which received lecture education method of 40 minutes on four consecutive days. CAI education for smoking cessation was composed of ready-made individual learning contents, counseling by using cyber-communication, writing a letter to stop smoking, and writing a written agreement for smoking cessation. Lecture education for smoking cessation was composed of a ready-prepared lecture for the group, writing a letter to stop smoking, and writing a written agreement for smoking cessation. To measure smoking related knowledge, Jeong Ree Roh(1996)'s smoking related knowledge scale$(Cronbach's\;{\alpha}=0.84)$ was modified and used by the researcher. To measure smoking related attitude, Jeong Ree Roh(1996)'s smoking related attitude scale$(Cronbach's\;{\alpha}=0.91)$ was modified and used by the researcher. Smoking related knowledge scale's Cronbach's $\alpha$ was 0.83 in the pilot study and 0.93 in this study. Smoking related attitude scale's Cronbach's a was 0.80 in the pilot study and 0.98 in this study. To determine the smoking amount, the number of cigarettes smoked per day was checked. The concentration level of CO in the exhaled breath was measured (Micro CO Cat. No. MCO2, UK). Data was analyzed by $x^2-test$, t-test, repeated measures ANOVA. simple main effects, and time contrast test with SPSS/Win 11.0 program. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The first hypothesis. that 'Smoking-related knowledge score in the experimental group by using CAI education for smoking cessation will be higher than that in the control group by using lecture education for smoking cessation', was not supported. 2. The second hypothesis, that 'Smoking-related attitude in the experimental group by using CAI education for smoking cessation will be higher than that in the control group by using lecture education for smoking cessation'. was supported(F=6490.79. p=0.000). 3. The third hypothesis. that 'Smoking amount in the experimental group by using CAI education for smoking cessation will be less than that in the control group by using lecture education for smoking cessation'. was supported. 1) The third-1st sub-hypothesis. that 'The number of cigarettes smoked per day in the experimental group by using CAI education for smoking cessation will be less than that in the control group by using lecture education for smoking cessation'. was supported(F=134.19. p=0.000). 2) The third-2nd sub-hypothesis. that 'The concentration level of CO by ppm per one exhaled breath in the experimental group by using CAI education for smoking cessation will be lower than that in the control group by using lecture education for smoking cessation"' was supported(F=268.55. p=0.000). From the above results. CAI education can be an effective intervention to improve smoking-related knowledge and attitude. and to reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the concentration level of CO by ppm per one exhaled breath. Lecture education can be effective to improve smoking-related knowledge. In the future, when CAI education and lecture education for smoking cessation are applied on the school nursing field. the students can gain a comprehensive understanding of smoking cessation, changes in smoking-related knowledge. smoking-related attitude and reducing smoking amount. Furthermore, CAI education for smoking cessation could be developed as an individual self initiative program and could give a guideline to apply CAI education for smoking cessation in other field.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2005

Purpose: $^{14}C$-urea breath test (UBT) is a non-invasive and reliable method for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of a new and rapid $^{14}C$-UBT (Heliprobe method), which was equipped with $Geiger-M\ddot{u}ller$ counter and compared the results with those obtained by using the conventional method. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine patients with dyspepsia underwent gastroduodenoscopy and $^{14}C$-UBT. A 37 KBq $^{14}C$-urea capsule was administered to patients and breath samples were collected. In Heliprobe method, patients exhaled into a Hellprobe BreathCard for 10 min. And then the activities of the BreathCard were countered using Heliprobe analyzer. In the conventional method, results were countered using liquid scintillation counter. During gastroduodenoscopy, 18 of 49 patients were underwent biopsies. According to these histologic results, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of two different methods and compared them. Also we evaluated the concordant and disconcordant rates between them. Results: In all 49 patients, concordant rate of both conventional and Heliprobe methods was 98% (48/49) and the discordant rate was 2% (1/49). Thirteen of 18 patients to whom biopsies were applied, were found to be HP positive on histologic results. And both Heliprobe method and conventional method classified 13 of 13 HP-positive patients and 5 of 5 HP-negative patients correctly (sensitivity 100%, specificity 100%, accuracy 100%). Conclusion: The Heliprobe method demonstrated the same diagnostic performance compared with the conventional method and was a simpler and more rapid technique.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.45-50
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• 1977

The maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) is one of the most widely used pulmonary function test, but its measuring method was very difficult and unreliable. However, it is need to get more easy and simple measuring method of MVV. Therefore, this study was attempted to get more easy and simple measuring method of MVV by means of the forced expiratory volume $(FEV_{T})$. The young and healthy 1,000 Korean students(592 male and 408 female) were cheesed for this purpose and whose ages were from 8 to 20 years. A spirometer (9L, Collins Co.) was used for the MVV and FEV, and they were measured 3 times at standing position, and the highest value was used. In the measurements, the subjects for MVV were asked for the breath as fast and deeply as possible for 12 seconds, and for FEV were asked for the rapid and forceful exhalation after a maximal inhalation (forced expiratory curve). In the FEV measurements toward the end of the expiration, the subjects were exhaused to continue the effort until no further gas was expired. During these measurements, the investigator stood by the subject to give a constant encouragement. FEV were calculated in the volume exhaled during the one-half $(FEV_{0{\cdot}5,}\;ml)$, the first second $(FEV_{1{\cdot}0,}\;ml)$ and the percentage of the total vital capacity exhaled during the one-half second $(FEV_{0{\cdot}5,}\;%)$. The results are summarized as follows: 1) The values of MVV were increased linearly with ages until 20 in both sexes. The values of male at the age of 20 was $168.2{\pm}2.5L/min$, and female at the age of 17 was $112.3{\pm}3.0L/min$, respectively. 2) The values of FEV (ml) were increased linearly with ages until 20 in both sexes. The values of $FEV_{0{\cdot}5}$ were $2,797{\pm}65.7ml$ in the male of 20 years and were $2,088{\pm}54.6ml$ in the female of 17 years, and of $FEV_{1{\cdot}0$ were $4,119{\pm}68.2ml$ in the male of 20 years and were $2,897{\pm}65.9ml$ in the female of 17 years, respectively. 3) The correlation coefficients between MVV and $FEV_{0{\cdot}5}\;or\;FEV_{1{\cdot}0$ (ml) were 0.82 or 0.85 in the male, and 0.77 or 0.79 in the female, respectively. 4) The prediction formulae for MVV to be derived from above results were: For male: MVV (L/min) =7.19+$0.05{\times}FEV_{0\cdot5}(ml)$, MVV (L/min)=11.25+$0.04{\times}FEV_{1\cdot0}(ml)$ For female: MVV (L/min)=16.03+$0.05{\times}FEV_{0\cdot5}(ml)$, MVV (L/min)=9.47+$0.03{\times}FEV_{1\cdot0}(ml)$.