• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.332-344
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• 1999

Cytokines are hormone-like proteins which mediate and regulate inflammatory and immune responses. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is involved in the final differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing cells. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a neutrophil chemotactic factor that plays an important role in the recruitment of neutrophil to inflammatory loci. Inflammatory mediators by cells in the gingiva have been implicated in the initiation and progression of periodontitis and oral infection. The purpose of this study was conducted to investigate the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB) on production of IL-6 and IL-8 by human gingival and facial dermal fibroblasts. Primary cultured human gingival and facial dermal fibroblasts were incubated with LPS (0.01, 0.1, $1.0{\mu}g/ml$), SEB (0.01, 0.1, $1.0{\mu}g/ml$) or LPS $(0.1{\mu}g/ml)$ plus SEB $(0.1{\mu}g/ml)$. Culture supernatants were collected at 24, 48, and 72 hrs and assessed for IL-6 and IL-8 production by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. IL-6 production in gingival fibroblasts stimulated with LPS was higher than that with SEB. IL-6 production by double exposure with LPS plus SEB was amplified in comparison with single exposure of LPS or SEB. IL-6 production in facial dermal fibroblasts was increased only by stimulation with a high concentration of LPS $(1.0{\mu}g/ml)$. Its production in facial dermal fibroblasts by exposure with SEB was decreased in comparison with control, nontreated cells. Therefore, gingival fibroblasts showed higher sensitivity than facial dermal fibroblasts in response to low concentration of LPS. Also, IL-6 production by double exposure with LPS plus SEB was amplified in comparison with single exposure of LPS or SEB. IL-8 production in gingival fibroblasts was enhanced greatly only by stimulation of high concentration of LPS $(1.0{\mu}g/ml)$. That by exposure with SEB was increased only in 24 hrs cultivation. IL-8 production by double exposure with LPS plus SEB was amplified in comparison with single exposure of LPS or SEB. IL-8 production in facial dermal fibroblasts was decreased by LPS and increased only in 48 hrs cultivation by SEB. IL-8 production by double exposure with LPS plus SEB was enhanced only in 48 hrs cultivation in comparison with single exposure of LPS or SEB. therefore, IL-6 and IL-8 production were released at various quantities according to bacterial toxin applied and site of fibroblast harvested. These results suggest that gingival fibroblasts may be concerned with IL-6 and IL-8 related inflammatory response more than facial dermal fibroblasts.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.153-161
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate 1) blood lead levels of workers at auto repair shops as Biological Exposure Indices (BEI) of toxic substances such as lead and toluene that are produced during automotive painting process, 2) the differences depending on personal characteristics of workers who have been exposed to toluene by using urine hippuric acid concentration as a marker and 3) the correlation between the concentration of hazardous chemicals in each workplace and the BEL. All subjects were male with a mean age of 36.2 years. In terms of age, most were in the 30 to 40 age group (13 persons, 48.1%). In relation to the length of work experience, the highest proportion had experience of 10 years of less (18 persons, 66.7%). Twenty three workers were cigarette smokers (85.2%) while 4 (14.8%) were non-smokers. In addition, more than 80% of the workers drank alcohol. Dust concentration and toluene exposure during automotive painting showed no significant difference with age, length of work experience, smoking and drinking while a significant difference (p<0.05) has been detected between lead concentration and smoking. The geometric mean of dust concentration, lead concentration and toluene concentration were $0.38mg/m^3,\;0.0021mg/m^3$ and 1.08ppm respectively. In addition, the geometric mean of blood lead levels and urine hippuric acid concentration were $1.70{\mu}g/dl$ and 0.25g/g respectively, which were lower than the standard levels suggested by the Ministry of Labor. To determine the influential factors on blood lead and urine hippuric acid concentrations, a correlation analysis has been conducted with variables of air, lead and toluene concentrations, age, length of work experience and amount of cigarette smoking. According to the analysis, a relatively high correlation (p<0.01) has been observed between air lead concentration and biological sample concentration.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.207-213
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• 2001

Objectives: We surveyed the prevalence of smoking among the adolescent population and analysed the correlation of the two exposure biomarkers-concentration of blood cadmium and urinary cotinine-to the smoking status. Methods: Subjects were 193 middle and high school students in Chungnam province. Blood cadmium and urinary cotinine were compared by sex and smoking status. Smoking status were classified by either the concentration of urinary cotinine or subjective answering as a smoker in the questionnaire. Results: Smoking prevalence was 24.6%, 36.2% and 6.7% among all subjects, male and female subjects, respectively. Average smoking amount was 17.5 and 1.5 cigarettes per month among the male subjects and female subjects, respectively. Mean concentration of urinary cotinine among the male subjects was $135.57{\mu}g/{\ell}$, and that of female subjects was $116.59{\mu}g/$. Direct smokers showed higher concentration of urinary cotinine than those of indirect smokers, and subjects with higher urinary concentration showed higher prevalence of smoking, too. Mean concentration of blood cadmium was $0.0572{\mu}g/d{\ell}$ among the male subjects, and $0.0693{\mu}g/d{\ell}$ among the female subjects. Among the male subjects, both exposure biomarkers showed significant correlation to the smoking status, but among the female subjects urinary cotinine did not show significant correlation to the smoking status. Conclusion: Concentrations of these two biomarkers suggested that this population had significantly high evironmental tobacco smoking(ETS) and efficient stop-smoking programs to reduce ETS should be directed to this population.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.188-197
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ozone exposure levels and the variations in ozone concentration in a semiconductor fabrication facility and office in relation to the ozone concentration in the outdoor air. Methods: This study was performed in an office, semiconductor fabrication facility(such as etching, diffusion, diffusion plenum), and outdoors from June to August, 2015. Measurements were taken six times at the same places using an active sampler(pumped) and real-time equipment. Ozone monitoring by the active sampler method and analysis were carried out by OSHA Method ID-214. Real-time measurement was carried out by ozone measuring equipment using a non-dispersive ultraviolet absorption method. Results: Ozone concentrations in the semiconductor fabrication facility and office were 0.7~7.1 ppb in area samples and 0.72~4.07 ppb in real-time measurement, which were 0.88~8.88% of the occupational exposure limit. The concentration of ozone generated by a laser printer in the office was less than 2 ppb. There was not a significant difference between ozone concentrations before and after using the laser printer. The indoor/outdoor concentration ratio(I/O ratio) in the semiconductor fabrication facility and office was 0.05 and 0.06, respectively. Conclusions: All the samples contained ozone levels lower than the occupational exposure limit and it was confirmed that the concentration of outdoor ozone had no significant effect on indoor ozone concentration.

• Special Issue of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.59-64
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• 2006

Most important factor to consider funnel performance is exhaust gas temperature and exhaust gas concentration Electric equipments on the wheelhouse top affected exhaust gas temperature. So, it is important that electric equipments keep away from high temperature. Though exhaust gas concentration is not a regulation and restraint, the exhaust 9as can cause serious problems for the on-board air quality and result in irreversible damage to the ship and people. So, we pocus on the exhaust gas concentration also. When judge whether a measured concentration is acceptable or not, criteria based on the LTEL (Long Term Exposure Limit). In this paper, we carried out the smoke simulation study. For this analysis, we used FLUENT which is commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.909-910
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• 2007

The volatile organic compounds exposure is governed by the source distance and dispersion of the pollutant into air and groundwater. The purpose of this study was to validate suggested models for the prediction of concentration distributions. The study design was organized into different methods to simulate industry site. The distribution models generally showed a fair agreement with measured data. For graphical representation of concentration of volatile hydrocarbon, it has to obtain a continuous representation of the contamination of the site. Therefore, the used interpolative methods examined for this project are the IDW(inverse Distance Weighting) and kriging method. In the results, in summary, all two different methods can be used to quantify exposures at a particular source area, and thus provide, a solid foundation for making risk-based decisions. All the calculations can be performed using Excel's built-in functions, and the capabilities of geospatial analysis allow the results to be displayed visually. However, anyone who uses these methods should understand all of the assumptions and limitation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.235-244
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• 2007

By comparing the proteins from the workers exposed to styrene with the ones from controls, it may be possible to identify proteins that play a role in the occurrence and progress of occupational disease and thus to study the molecular mechanisms of occupational disease. In order to find the biomarkers for assessing the styrene effects early, before clinical symptoms develop and to understand the mechanisms of adverse health effects, we surveyed 134 employees, among whom 52 workers(30 male and 22 female) were chronically exposed to styrene in 10 glass-reinforced plastic boat manufacturing factories in Korea and 82 controls had never been occupationally exposed to hazardous chemicals including styrene. The age and drinking habits and serum biochemistry such as total protein, BUN and serum creatinine in both groups were significantly different. Exposed workers were divided into three groups according to exposure levels of styrene(G1, below 1/2 TLV; G2, 1/2 TLV to TLV; G3, above TLV). The mean concentration of airborne styrene in G1 group was $10.93{\pm}11.33ppm$, and those of urinary mandelic acid(MA) and phenylglyoxylic acid(PGA) were $0.17{\pm}0.21$ and $0.13{\pm}0.11g/g$ creatinine, respectively. The mean concentration of airborne styrene in G2 and G3 groups were $47.54{\pm}22.43$ and $65.33{\pm}33.47ppm$, respectively, and levels of urinary metabolites such as MA and PGA increased considerably as expected with the increase in exposure level of styrene. The airborne styrene concentration were significantly correlated to the urinary concentration of MA(r=0.784, p=0.000) and PGA(r=0.626, p<0.001). In the 2D electrophoresis, the concentration of five proteins including complement C3 precursor, alpha-1-antitrypsin(AAT), vitamin D binding protein precursor(DBP), alpha-1-B-glycoprotein(A1BG) and inter alpha trypsin inhibitor(ITI) heavy chain-related protein were significantly altered in workers exposed to styrene compared with controls. While expression of complement C3 precursor and AAT increased by exposure to styrene, expression of DBP, A1BG and ITI heavy chain-related protein decreased. These results suggest that the exposure of styrene might affects levels of plasma proteinase, carriers of endogenous substances and immune system. In particular, increasing of AAT with the increase in exposure level of styrene can explain the tissue damage and inflammation by the imbalance of proteinase/antiproteinase and decrease of DBP, A1BG and ITI heavy chain-related protein in workers exposed to styrene is associated with dysfunction and/or declination in immune system and signal transduction

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.261-268
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• 1998

The present study was to assess the effect of ultrarapid freezing on the development of 1-cell mouse zygote using cryoprotectants, DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) or PROH (1,2-propanediol). We investigated the effect of the type and concentration of cryoprotectant, and of the temperature and time of prefreezing equilibration on their capacity to develop to the blastocyst stage in vitro. The concenration, the equilibration temperature, and the exposure time seemed to serve as an important factor in ultrarapid freezing of 1-cell mouse zygotes. In addition to the exposure time and the concentration of cryoprotectant appeared to playa key role in the development of the embryo. In general, the development of the embryo was more effective at $3^{\circ}C$ than $23^{\circ}C$ and 4.5 M than 3 M for 3 to 5 minutes. At $23^{\circ}C$ the development of the embryo was stimulated by DMSO while at $3^{\circ}C$ it was stimulated by PROH. Thus it has been suggested that there exists a correlation between the concentration of cryoprotectants and exposure time in the development of the embryo. In conclusion, we found that for ultrarapid freezing of mouse 1-cell embryos in DMSO, or PROH-based solution, viability shown optimum depending on the cryoprotectant, the concentration of the cryoprotectant and on the temperature and the duration of equilibration.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.166-176
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• 1993

In order to investingate the renal dysfunction in workers exposed to aromatic organic solvents, 105 male exposed workers and 109 controls were participated in this study. This study was conducted to examine the correlation among the concentration of aromatic organic solvents in air, worker's urinary NAG activity and urinary hippuric acid. The results were as follows : 1. The exposure level of aromatic organic solvent mixture caculated by the equation proposed by ACGIH was ranged from 0.27 to 0.54 and toluene concentration was ranged from 18.3ppm to 48.3ppm. 2. NAG activity in the urine of control and exposed group were $36.1{\pm}14.2nmolMU/mg$ creatinine and $52.4{\pm}26.1nmolMU/mg$ creatinine, respectively. Hippuric acid concentration in the urine of control and exposed group were $191.1{\pm}194.2mg/g$ creatinine and $789.3{\pm}784.1mg/g$ creatinine, respectively. 3. Correlation coefficent between the exposure level of aromatic organic solvent mixture was significantly related to urinary NAG activity(r=0.542) and urinary hippuric acid(r=0.752). 4. Correlation coefficient between NAG activity and hippuric acid concentration was 0.357. This study suggested that urinary NAG activity was a good renal function index for aromatic organic solvents exposure and urinary hippuric acid was an index for the biological monitoring of toluene exposure.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.145-157
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• 1999

Wood dust is created when machines are used to cut or shape wood materials. Industries of high risk of wood dust exposure are sawmills, dimension mills, furniture industries, and carpenters, etc. Health effects associated with wood dust exposure includes dermatitis, allergic respiratory effects and cancer. Health effects of wood dus t are mainly depend on the concentration, dust size and exposure time. This study were carried out to evaluate the concentration and particle size distribution of wood dust during working processes. The subjects of this study were 53 workers exposed to wood dust in 7 furniture factories and 5 musical instruments, and 5 sawmill factories. The average total wood dust concentrations measured by personal cascade impactor were $1.82{\pm}2.31mg/m^3$ in primary manufacture, $3.59{\pm}1.72mg/m^3$ in s econdary manufacture, $5.09{\pm}1.46mg/m^3$ in sanding operation. Mass median diameters of hardwoods dust were $3.36{\mu}m$ in primary manufacture, $4.25{\mu}m$ in secondary manufacture, $4.21{\mu}m$ in sanding operation. softwoods dust were $3.39{\mu}m$ in primary manufacture, $4.34{\mu}m$ in secondary manufacture. Particle size distributions showed a nearly the same pattern in each working processes. The sample concentration of all hardwood dust exceeded the Threshold Limit Value(TLV) and 20.8% of the softwood dust exceeded the Threshold Limit Value. The range of size distribution were $0.5-10{\mu}m$ in the soft and hardwood dust. The respirable dust of soft and hardwood took up 59% and above. Therefore new threshold limit value for wood dust should be needed in Korea. Also, it should be done for various studies on health effects related to occupational exposure of wood dust.