• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.402-408
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• 2016

Background: Ascertainment bias are common in epidemiologic studies to assess the association between thyroid cancer risk and living near nuclear power plants because many thyroid cancers are diagnosed by chance through health examination. We surveyed the ultra sonography (USG) examination history and conducted thyroid and breast USG in residents living near nuclear power plants. Materials and Methods: The study population comprised 2,421 residents living near nuclear power plants in Korea. Information on demographic characteristics, including diagnostic examination history, was collected by interview using questionnaires. USG examination was conducted to evaluate the presence of thyroid nodules and breast lesion. Study participants were divided into 3 groups according to the distance of their respective villages from a nuclear power plant. The proportions of USG examination history and prevalence of thyroid nodules and breast lesions were compared between groups. Results and Discussion: Examination histories of thyroid USG were 23.1%, 13.7%, and 10.5% in men and 31.3%, 26.7%, 18.3% in women in the short, intermediate, and long distance groups, respectively. There were significant inverse associations between thyroid USG history and the distance from nuclear power plants (P for trend = 0.001 for men and 0.017 for women). However, there was no association between the distance of villages from nuclear power plants and prevalence of thyroid nodules. Conclusion: Our results suggest that there may be an ascertainment bias in population-based studies examining the harmful effects of NPPs examination and researchers should pay attention to ascertainment bias resulted from differential health examination. Correction for ascertainment bias, active follow-up and examination for all study population to remove differential health examination is needed.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.820-829
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• 2003

One of the important function of skin is the protection from harmful environments. Many studies were carried out to keep the skin from wrinkling and pigmenting. Skin wrinkle and pigmentation could be caused' by the unusual disruption of connective tissue, the formation of free radicals and the radiation of ultraviolet. In this study, the extracts obtained from 23 different kinds of medicinal plants were examined whether they have inhibitory effect on tyrosinase and elastase as well as free radical scavenging effect. All the extracts examined were obtained by using 70% (v/v) ethanol at $60^{\circ}C$. It has been found that there were two medicinal plants which have positive effects matching with the purpose of this study. The extract of Ephedra sinica stapf shows an inhibitory effect on tyrosinase ($IC_{50}$ = 83.7~$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml), on elastase ($IC_{50}$ = $690{\mu}\textrm{g}$/ml), and also shows free radical scavenging effect ($IC_{50}$ = 29.6$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml). The extract of Betula platyphylla Var. shows an inhibitory effect on elastase ($IC_{50}$ = 498.1$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml), and free radical scavenging effect ($IC_{50}$ = 9$\mu\textrm{g}$/ ml). The aim of the study is to find the natural compounds which have function in skin-lightening, anti-wrinkling and anti-oxidation, with safe and active ingredients in cosmetic.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.158-161
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• 2002

UV-B radiation gives harmful effects on plants, such as production of several types of DNA lesions, and growth inhibition. On the other hand, plants have some protective mechanisms, including filtering effect due to accumulation of phenolic compounds in epidermal cells and reactivation of DNA lesions, which are enhanced by UV-B irradiation. We have investigated the mechanism of UV-B effects on plants using cucumber seedlings as plant materials. Cucumber plants were cultivated in an artificially lit growth chamber. Supplemental UV-B irradiation, of which intensity was almost equal to the level of natural sunlight, retarded the growth of first leaves. The growth retardation must result trom the inhibition of cell division and/or cell growth. Microscopical observation of leaf epidermis suggested that the growth retardation might be mainly caused by cell growth inhibition. The retardation was, however, restored within 2 or 3 days after the termination of UV-B irradiation. It is known that UV-B irradiation lowers the activity of photo system II (PS II). In the present experimental conditions, however, UV-B irradiation has little effect on PS II activity as estimated by chlorophyll fluorescence. The stomatal conductance, a major factor determining photosynthetic rate, of first leaves increased during the growth. The increase of stomatal conductance was suppressed by UV-B irradiation and restored by termination of the irradiation. It has not been clear, however, what mechanisms are involved in the suppression of increase of stomatal conductance.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 2005

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation to mammalian skin is known to alter cellular function via generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), DNA damage and DNA lesions, such as pyrimidine dimmers and photoproducts, which could lead to DNA mutation if they are not repaired. In this study, we have investigated the reduction of DNA damage and of apoptosis with a particular attention to genetic effect of paeoniflorin in Normal Human Epidermal Keratinocytes (NHEK). After UVB irradiation from $10\;to\;500mJ/cm^{2}$ to NHEK, Mean Tail Moments (MTM) were increased with UVB dose increase. The greatest amount of strand breaks was induced at $500mJ/cm^{2}$ of UVB. Even at the lowest dose of UVB ($10mJ/cm^{2}$), change in MTM was detected (P<0.0001). Pretreated cell with 0.1% paeoniflorin maximally reduced the level of DNA damage to about 21.3%, compared to untreated cell. In the lower concentrations less than 0.01% of paeoniflorin, MTM had a small increase but paeoniflorin still had reductive effects of DNA damage. We measured the apoptosis suppression of paeoniflorin with annexin V flous staining kit. As we observed under the fluorescence microscopy to detect apoptosis in the irradiated cell, the fluorescence intensity was clearly increased in the untreated cell, but decreased in treated cells with paeoniflorin. These results suggest that paeoniflorin reduces the alteration of cell membranes and prevents DNA damage. Therefore, the use of paeoniflorin as a free radical scavenger to reduce the harmful effects of UV lights such as chronic skin damage, wrinkling and skin cancer can be useful to prevent the formation of photooxidants that result in radical damage.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 1984

The terrestrial UV flux rapidly increased in late spring, as measured by the chemical actinometry at two elevations (near sea level and 1,100m above sea level) on Jeju Island. More intense UV fluxes were observed at higher altitudes. Any harmful effects of solar UV-B on the growth of soybean were not detected in UV-B-exclusion experiment. To ascertain the effect of UV radiation on vegetative growth, intact (㏖ wt 124000) and large (${\sim}120000$) phytochromes were irradiated with UV-B radiation. In intact phytochrome, the Pfr form accounts for 60% of the total phytochrome under stationary state conditions, whereas it accounts for 50% in large phytochrome. Calculated quantum yields for the forward and the backward phototransformations of phytochrome by UV were ${\phi}r=0.016$ and ${\phi}fr=0.010$ in intact phytochrome, and ${\phi}r={\phi}fr=0.012$ in large phytochrome, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.608-613
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• 2019

NOx (Nitrogen oxide) in the exhaust gas from vehicle engines is considered one of the most harmful substances in air pollution problems. NOx is made when combustion occurs under high temperature conditions and EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) is normally used to lower the combustion temperature. As the EGR ratio increases, the NOx level becomes low, but a high EGR ratio makes the combustion unstable and causes further air pollution problems, such as CO and unburned hydrocarbon level increase. This study showed that fuel droplets could move more freely by the radiation of sonic wave for the stable combustion. In addition, the engine performance improved with increasing EGR ratio. As a basic study, the effect of sonic wave radiation on the velocity of fuel droplets was studied using CFD software. The results showed that the velocity of small droplets increased more under high frequency sonic wave conditions and the velocity of the large droplets increased at low frequency sonic wave conditions. In addition, an engine analysis model was used to study the effects of the increased combustion stability. These results showed that a 15% increase in EGR ratio in combustion resulted in a 45% decrease in NOx and a 10% increase in thermal efficiency.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.83-88
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• 2013

Catastrophic disasters are sprouting out recently, i.e., the radiation leaks and the hydrofluoric acid gas leaks, etc. The restoration work for these kinds of disasters is very harmful and dangerous for human beings to handle themselves, thus allowing manless robots to fly the reconnaissance planes over to the disaster stricken areas and do the necessary work instead. For this endeavor and purpose, we created and tested an intelligent robot that can inspect those areas, using Mbed (ARM processor) technology temperature sensors and gas sensors aided by CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) cameras. Also, HTTP Server, PC, androids and their combined efforts allow their remote controlled operation from far away with timing control. These intelligent robots can be on duty for 24 hours, minimizing the accidents and crimes and what not, and can respond more quickly when these misfortunes actually happen. We can anticipate the economic effects as well, derived from the reduced needs for hiring human resources.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.335-342
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• 2011

The effects of gamma irradiation on the survival, development, fecundity, and sex ratio of the multicolored Asian ladybird beetle (Harmonia axyridis) were investigated. A dose of more than 50 Gy dose of irradiation on eggs completely inhibited hatch, and 1st and 3rd instar larva irradiated with over 40 Gy almost died. Adverse effects of gamma irradiation over 70 Gy were also observed in the survival and development of pupae and adults. Although irradiated individuals usually survived, they had longer periods of larval and pupal development than untreated individuals. Slight female-biased sex ratios were observed in some treatments. However, sex ratio differences soon equilibrated. Generally, inherited harmful effects of gamma irradiation were observed in F1 and F2 generations. Comet tail indicating DNA damage was showed in survival individuals exposed to gamma irradiation.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.341-350
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• 2015

Skin carrys out protective role against harmful outer environment assaults including ultraviolet radiation, heavy metals and oxides. Especially, ultraviolet-B (UVB) light causes inflammatory reactions in skin such as sun burn and erythma and stimulates melanin pigmentation. Furthermore, the influx of UVB into skin cells causes DNA damage in keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts, inhibition of extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis which leads to a decrease in elasticity of skin and wrinkle formation. It also damages dermal connective tissue and disrupts the skin barrier function. Prolonged exposure of human skin to UVB light is well known to trigger severe skin lesions such as cell death and carcinogenesis. Haloarcula vallismortis is a halophilic microorganism isolated from the Dead Sea, Its growth characteristics have not been studied in detail yet. It generally grows at salinity more than 10%, but the actual growth salinity usually ranges between 20 to 25%. Because H. vallismortis is found mainly in saltern or salt lakes, there could exist defense mechanisms against strong sunlight. One of them is generation of additional ATP using halorhodopsin which absorbs photons and produces energy by potential difference formed by opening the chloride ion channel. It often shows a color of pink or red because of their high content of carotenoid pigments and it is considered to act as a defense mechanism against intense UV irradiation. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effect of the halophilic microorganism, H. vallismortis, extract was investigated. It was found that H. vallismortis extract had protective effect on DNA damage induced by UV irradiation. These results suggest that the extract of halophilic bacterium, H. vallismortis could be used as a bio-sunscreen or natural sunscreen which ameliorate the harmful effects of UV light with its anti-inflammatory and DNA protective properties.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.141-148
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• 2013

The harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation by increasing sun exposure are making people use sunscreens casually. To keep pace with this trend, many researches about mixing different ingredients or extracting effective ingredients from natural materials are conducted by cosmetics industry. In the present study, we evaluated the UV blocking effect of the sunscreen containing Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi extract. 10 volunteers were measured by minimal erythema dose (MED) and sun protection factor (SPF) of each product. The SPF results were $34.52{\pm}2.13$ and $32.67{\pm}1.44$ in the sunscreen containing Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi extract and that of not containing the substance, respectively. Although the difference of SPF between two products was statistically not significant, it is thought to be meaningful in evaluating clinical effects of the sunscreen using natural substance to humans without any adverse reaction.