• Toxicological Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of metal pollution in the sediment from rivers, lakes, and streams in active gold mining districts in Ghana. Two hundred and fifty surface sediment samples from 99 locations were collected and analyzed for concentrations of As, Hg, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Mn using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Metal concentrations were then used to assess the human health risks to resident children and adults in central tendency exposure (CTE) and reasonable maximum exposure (RME) scenarios. The concentrations of Pb, Cd, and As were almost twice the threshold values established by the Hong Kong Interim Sediment Quality Guidelines (ISQG). Hg, Cu, and Cr concentrations in sediment were 14, 20, and 26 times higher than the Canadian Freshwater Sediment Guidelines for these elements. Also, the concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cr, and Hg were 3, 11, 12, and 16 times more than the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) sediment guideline values. The results of the human health risk assessment indicate that for ingestion of sediment under the central tendency exposure (CTE) scenario, the cancer risks for child and adult residents from exposure to As were $4.18{\times}10^{-6}$ and $1.84{\times}10^{-7}$, respectively. This suggests that up to 4 children out of one million equally exposed children would contract cancer if exposed continuously to As over 70 years (the assumed lifetime). The hazard index for child residents following exposure to Cr(VI) in the RME scenario was 4.2. This is greater than the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) threshold of 1, indicating that adverse health effects to children from exposure to Cr(VI) are possible. This study demonstrates the urgent need to control industrial emissions and the severe heavy metal pollution in gold mining environments.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.209-217
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• 2023

Objective: The conservation of Bali bulls, the Indonesian native breed of cattle, is crucial for cattle breeding in Indonesia. To guarantee the spread of Bali bulls through artificial insemination the quality of the frozen semen must be high. To this end, adding an extender material to semen that increases spermatozoa's survival during cryopreservation is important. Green tea extract (GTE) can be used as cryoprotectant because its high antioxidant activity can help avoid reactive oxygen species formation. Methods: Semen of five Bali bulls from the National Artificial Insemination Center at Singosari, Indonesia was collected routinely twice a week. First, fresh semen inspection was performed to determine the feasibility of using Bali bulls as animal samples. The extender used in this study was Tris-based egg yolk. The samples were divided into four treatments: T0, no GTE added to the extender; T1, 0.05 mg GTE plus 100 mL extender; T2, 0.10 mg GTE plus 100 mL extender; and T3, 0.15 mg GTE plus 100 mL extender. The semen freezing process was conducted according to standard procedures and sperm quality parameters, i.e., sperm motility, viability, abnormalities, and membrane integrity observed pre-freezing and post-thawing. Results: There were significant differences in total motility, progressive motility, viability, and integrity membrane of Bali bull sperm at both pre-freezing and post-thawing after adding GTE into the extender. In contrast, there were no differences in abnormalities among treatments. Conclusion: Adding GTE at a 0.15 mg into 100 mL Tris-based egg yolk extender can improve the quality of cryopreserved Bali bull sperm.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.597-603
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• 2010

The amount of pollutants from stationary sources of businesses classified into 1-3 type in Gyeongju was found to be 0.70 ton/yr for PM-10, 13.95 ton/yr for $SO_2$, and 37.12 ton/yr for NOx ; with respect to area sources, 1.02 ton/yr for PM-10, 13.44 ton/yr for $SO_2$, and 21.10 ton/yr for NOx ; and with respect to mobile sources 963.91 ton/yr for PM-10, 1415.02 ton/yr for $SO_2$, and 5612.70 ton/yr for NOx. This study surveyed the concentration distribution of PM-10, $SO_2$, and NO2 in the air in around Gyeongju and Pohang, and found that high concentration was mainly distributed around Pohang Steel Industrial Complex and the around of mobile sources. In Gyeongju area, $SO_2$ was predicted to increase from 0.002 ppm in 2006 to 0.005 ppm in 2015, and that of $NO_2$ was predicted to increase from 0.004 ppm to 0.010 ppm during the same period. At this point, practicing guidelines to reduce air pollutants and management plan for environmental pollutants should be devised, and also practicing and management programs to protect the stone cultural properties from environmental pollutants and other chemical, physical, and biological factors should be actively introduced.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.470-477
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• 2021

Amsonia ellipotica (Thumb.) Roem. & Schult. has less than 10 native places nationwide and is evaluated as an endangered species (EN) on the Korean Red List, so systematic breeding and cultivation methods are required. This study was carried out to establish an effective method for seedling production in A. elliopotica that can be developed as a genetic resource conservation and new ornamental material. This experiment was performed by varying the seedling production container (72, 105 and 128 cell trays), number of seeds sown in a cell (1, 2, and 4 per cell), soil type [horticultural soil and neutralized peat-moss: perlite mixed in 3:1, 4:1 (v:v)], additional fertilizer concentrations (0, 250, 500 and 1000 mg/L) and shading degrees (0, 55 and 75%). As a result of the study, growth increased with the increased in measuring capacity per cell of sowing container. According to number of seeding growth, sowing one seed per cell was the best. Seedling growth increased as the treatment concentrations increased, higher growth was in 1000 mg/L. On the other hand, during the shading treatment, growth significantly decreased regardless of shading degrees.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.517-527
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• 2023

Objectives: We examine cases of chemical poisoning that occurred in the cleaning of metal parts and the regulations on halogenated solvents in other countries and propose regulations necessary to prevent chemical poisoning from halogenated solvents. Methods: We collected cases of chemical poisoning through the website of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. A review of the literature was conducted focusing on regulations related to halogenated solvents in the United States and the European Union, particularly for cleaning metal parts. Among the Material Safety Data Sheets submitted to the government, MSDS containing eleven substances were extracted to confirm the composition and product use. We investigated cleaning methods for metal parts used in South Korea. For the hazard classification, the European Chemicals Agency or Japan's NITE's website was used. Results: In the case of poisoning, the cleaning methods involving trichloromethane were dipping and dry, which was not found in the literature. It was confirmed that many halogenated solvents and dimethyl carbonate were used for metal cleaning in South Korea. In vapor degreasing using TCE in the USA, even if the facility is strictly managed, such as by installing cooling coils in open cleaning facilities, the risk of exposure to TCE is considered to be not only carcinogenic but also a concern for acute and chronic effects. In comparison, exposure through Korean work methods such as dipping and drying operations is inevitably much higher. Conclusions: The transition to water-based cleaning with low-hazard chemicals should be a priority in the cleaning process. In the case of metal parts that require precise cleaning, if the use of a halogenated solvent is inevitable, a closed degreasing facility should be used to minimize exposure. The current regulations in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Chemical Substances Control Act, and the Air Environment Conservation Act do not require cleaning facilities to minimize emissions. To protect the health of workers using halogenated solvents to clean metal parts, regulations that require a fundamental reduction in exposure will be necessary.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2011

Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems use field measurements of operational signals, which are distorted by noise from many sources. Reducing this noise allows a more accurate assessment of the original "clean" signal and improves analysis results. The implementation of a noise reduction methodology for the Modal Distribution Method (MDM) is reported here. The spectral subtraction method is a popular broadband noise reduction technique used in speech signal processing. Its basic principle is to subtract the magnitude of the noise from the total noisy signal in the frequency domain. The underlying assumption of the method is that noise is additive and uncorrelated with the signal. In speech signal processing, noise can be measured when there is no signal. In the MDM, however, the magnitude of the noise profile can be estimated only from the magnitude of the Power Spectral Density (PSD) at higher frequencies than the frequency range of the true signal associated with structural vibrations under the additional assumption of white noise. The implementation of the spectral subtraction method to MDM may decrease the energy of the individual mode. In this work, a modification of the spectral subtraction method is introduced that enables the conservation of the energies of individual modes. The main difference is that any (negative) bars with a height below zero after subtraction are set to the absolute value of their height. Both noise reduction methods are implemented in the MDM, and an application example is presented that demonstrates its effectiveness when used with a signal corrupted by noise.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.60-71
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• 1994

The average volume of waste per a person in Korea is exceedingly higher than that of Europeans. But the social movement for the resources recycling and the environmental conservation makes the people play their part in several activities like the Separate Collection System. At the time of this agitation, Korean central government brought the Volume Based Waste Charge System into operation in some regions on a trial basis having full-scale operation nationwidely near at hand. Andong City which is one of points under trial operation had remarkble result during this term in resources recycling as well as wastes reducing. The wastes' diminution reached to 32.0 % and the resources recycling was increased by 13.7 times. The responses from the 701 housewives in Andong were also very stimulative. The neccesity of this system was judged conclusively by 91.6 % of total answerers. Also this system was considered as a successful one by 78.4 % popular support. But not little portion (53.8 %) of the answerers felt that the detail methods of this system were unconvenient. In order to take root this system in it's early stages, the Separate Collection should be carried out perfectly and systematically with top priority. And the next program should be the improvement of the detail methods in this system.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2005

Before twentieth centuries and during early twentieth centuries, communicable diseases were the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Korea. But reliable data are not available. After 1975, the overall morbidity and mortality from communicable diseases, rapidly declined. Recently many new pathogenic microbes were recognized: L. monocytogenes, Hantaan virus, Y. pseudotuberculosis, P. multocida, L. pneumophilia, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), G. seoi, H. capsulatum, C. burnetii, V. cholerae O139, C. parvum, F. tularensis, E. coli O157:H7, B. burgdorferi, S. Typhimurium DT104, Rotavirus, hepatitis C virus and so on. Since the first HIV infection recognized in 1985, the reported cases of infection and deaths from HIV/AIDS have been steady increased each year. Legionnaire's disease, E. coli O157:H7 colitis, listeriosis and crytosporidiasis have been occurring just sporadically among immunocompromized cases. Many re-emerging communicable diseases were occurred in Korea: leptospirosis, malaria, endemic typhus, cholera, tsutsugamushi disease, salmonellosis, hepatitis A, shigellosis, mumps, measles, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, brucellosis and so on. Leptospirosis and tsutsugamushi diseases have been noticed as major public health problems since 1980s. The malaria that had been virtually disappeared for a decade has reappeared from 1993 with striking increase of patients in recent 3-4 years. The distributions of salmonella and shigella serotypes have been changed a lot in recent few decades. Furthermore rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains induces more difficult and complex problems in control of communicable diseases. We must recognize on the importance of environment and ecosystem conservation and careful prescription of anti-microbial agent in order to prevent communicable diseases.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.183-194
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• 2008

An important historical monument of Cyprus is an aqueduct that was built in 1747 to provide water to the city of Larnaca and to its port. Because of its importance to the cultural heritage of Cyprus, the aqueduct has been selected as one of the case-study monuments in the project Wide-Range Non-Intrusive devices toward Conservation of Historical Monuments in the Mediterranean Area (WIND-CHIME). Detailed drawings of the aqueduct obtained from the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus have been used for the development of a computational model. The model was fine-tuned through the measurement of the dynamic characteristics of the aqueduct using forced and ambient vibrations. It should be noted that measurement of the dynamic characteristics of the structure were performed twice in a period of three years (June of 2004 and May of 2007). Significant differences were noted and they are attributed to soil structure interaction effects due to seasonal variations of the water-level in a nearby salt-lake. The system identification results for both cases are presented here. This monument was used to test the effectiveness of shape memory alloy (SMA) pre-stressed devices, which were developed during the course of the project, in protecting it without spoiling its monumental value.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.305-313
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• 2005

In these days, water environment is getting threatened by a variety of toxic pollutants discharged from industries. However, environmental standards and regulations in Korea may be in straitened circumstances to protect the water environment from it. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to compare the management state of the toxic substances in water environment and to present the framework for deriving water quality criteria in USA and Japan. To conserve the water environment from the toxic pollutants more efficiently, the following considerations could be suggested in standards and regulation in Korea. Firstly, there should be consistency of regulated pollutants in drinking water quality standard, water quality standards and permissible wastewater discharge standards. Secondly, in case of deriving the water quality standards, it is required to consider the conservation of the aquatic ecosystem as well as the protection of human health. Finally, it is indispensable to make risk-based approach in management of toxic pollutants in water environment.