• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.183-191
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the distribution patterns and exposure concentrations of bioaerosols in industries suspected to have high levels of bioaerosol exposure. Methods: We selected 11 plants including 3 livestock feed plants (LF industry), 3 metal working fluids handling plants (MWFs industry), and 5 sawmills and measured total airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, as well as dust. Airborne bacteria and fungi were measured with one stage impactor, six stage cascade impactor, and gelatin filters. Endotoxins were measured with polycarbonate filters. Results: The geometric means (GM) of the airborne concentrations of bacteria, fungi, and endotoxins were 1,864, $2,252\;CFU/m^3$, and $31.5\;EU/m^3$, respectively at the sawmills, followed by the LF industry (535, $585\;CFU/m^3$, and $22.0\;EU/m^3$) and MWFs industry (258, $331\;CFU/m^3$, and $8.7\;EU/m^3$). These concentrations by industry type were significantly statistically different (p < 0.01). The ratio of indoor to outdoor concentration was 6.2, 1.9, 3.2, and 3.2 for bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, and dust in the LF industry, 5.0, 0.9, 2.3, and 12.5 in the MWFs industry, and 3.7, 4.1, 3.3, and 9.7 in sawmills. The respiratory fractions of bioaerosols were differentiated by bioaerosol types and industry types: the respiratory fraction of bacteria in the LF industry, MWF industry, and sawmills was 59.4%, 72.0%, and 57.7%, respectively, and that of fungi was 77.3%, 89.5%, and 83.7% in the same order. Conclusion: We found that bioaerosol concentration was the highest in sawmills, followed by LF industry facilities and MWFs industry facilities. The indoor/outdoor ratio of microorganisms was larger than 1 and respiratory fraction of microorganisms was more than 50% of the total microorganism concentrations which might penetrate respiratory tract easily. All these findings suggest that bioaerosol in the surveyed industries should be controlled to prevent worker respiratory diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.7 s.80
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• pp.1158-1163
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• 2006

Bisphenol A (BPA), 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane, has been widely used as a monomer for production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, and final products of BPA include adhesives, protective coatings, paints, optical lens, building materials, compact disks and other electrical parts. Since BPA is a toxic chemical to elicit acute cell cytotoxicity and chronic endocrine disrupting activity, the degradation of BPA has been focused during last decades. To overcome the problem of photo-, and chemical-degradation of BPA, in this study, a bacterium that is able to biodegrade BPA, was isolated. The bacterium, isolated froln the soil of plastic factory, was identified as Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (strain BP-2) based on physiological and 16S rDNA sequencing analysis. A. calcoaceticus BP-2 was able to grow in the presence of $1140{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$ BPA. Biodegradation experiments showed that BP-2 mineralized BPA via 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 4-hydroxyacetophenone, and average degradation rate was $53.3{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;day^{-1}$ under optimal conditions (pH 7 and $30^{\circ}C$). In high density resting cell $(3.5g-dcw.1^{-1})$ experiments, the maximal degradation rate was increased to $89.7{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;h^{-1}$. Our results suggest that BP-2 has high potential as a catalyst for practical BPA bioremediation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.1754-1759
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• 2008

To produce plastic parts that have fine pattern through conventional injection molding, a lot of difficulties follow. Therefore, rapid heating and cooling methods are good candidates for manufacturing injection-molded parts with micro/nano patterns. In this study, we adopted the E-Mold patent technology. The mold for E-Mold technology has a separate heated core with micro heaters. It is very important to optimize the lay-out of the heaters in heated core because it influences both control and distribution of mold temperature. We developed a optimization method of heating line lay-out by using commercial softwares and compared the output with the experimental results. We used Pro-Engineer Wildfire 2.0 for the mold design, ICEMCFD for mesh generation, and FLUENT for heat transfer simulation. The simulation results showed the temperature profile from $60^{\circ}C$ to $120^{\circ}C$ or $180^{\circ}C$ during heating and cooling process which were compared with the injection molding experiments. We concluded that the simulation could well explain the experimental results. It was shown that the E-Mold optimization design for heater lay-out could be available through the simulation.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.623-632
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• 1993

This study was conducted to develop a sensitized latex-antigen for serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis in animals. Tachyzoites of T gondii(RH-strain) harvested from mouse peritoneal cavity were purified through the filtraton of polycarbonate membrane(pore size, $3.0{{\mu}m}$, Costar Co.) and disrupted by ultrasonicator. The tachyzoite suspension was ultracentrifuged for 30 min at $60,000{\times}g(4{^{\circ}C})$ and the supernatant was used as a water-lysate antigen. Polystyrene latex particles of $0.8{{\mu}m}$ in diameter(Sigma) were used for the preparation of sensitized latex-antigen suspension. The several parameters including the preparation conditions, incubation buffer. serum dilution buffer and stability of agglutination reactions were evaluated and the results obtained were summarized as follows : 1. The antigen consisting of a water-lysate of T gondii tachyzoites was adsorbed onto polystyrene latex particles of $0.8{{\mu}m}$ in diameter by adding a latex suspension to an equal volume of diluted antigen solution and by incubating the mixture at $37{^{\circ}C}$ under different conditions. 2. The optimum incubation buffer used for the antigen sensitization was 0.1M Tris-HCl buffer(pH 8.0). 3. The optimum serum dilution buffer used for the latex agglutination test was 0.1M Tris-HCl-NaCl buffer(pH 7.4) containing 300 mM NaCl. But 0.1M Tris-HCl-NaCl buffer(pH 7.4) containing 300-600 mM NaCl, 0.5% BSA and 0.01% Tween-20 improved the agglutination pattems and cleared the background of microplate well without the effects on L.A titer. 4. The time required for antigen sensitization was 40 and 60 min in incubation buffer(pH 8.0) at $37{^{\circ}C}$. But the optimun time for antigen sensitization was min at $37{^{\circ}C}$. 5. The optimun quantity of antigen absorbed on latex particles for proper agglutination was the range of 20 to $32{\mu}g$ of latex particles. 6. The optimun concentration of the latex-antigen suspension for the proper agglutination reaction was determined as 0.2%(w/v). 7. The specificity, rapidity and simplicity of the latex-particle agglutination test suggested that it might be adaptable to large scale serum screening.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.203-209
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• 2006

The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of ex vivo MR diffusion tensor imaging technique in order to observe the diffusion-contrast characteristics of human gastric tissues. On normal and pathologic gastric tissues, which have been fixed in a polycarbonate plastic tube filled with 10% formalin solution, laboratory made 3D diffusion tensor Turbo FLASH pulse sequence was used to obtain high resolution MR images with voxel size of $0.5{\times}0.5{\times}0.5mm^3\;using\;64{\times}32{\times}32mm^3$ field of view in conjunction with an acquisition matrix of $128{\times}64{\times}64$. Diffusion weighted- gradient pulses were employed with b values of 0 and $600s/mm^2$ in 6 orientations. The sequence was implemented on a clinical 3.0-T MRI scanner(Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) with a home-made quadrature-typed birdcage Tx/Rx rf coil for small specimen. Diffusion tensor values in each pixel were calculated using linear algebra and singular value decomposition(SVD) algorithm. Apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC) and fractional anisotropy(FA) map were also obtained from diffusion tensor data to compare pixel intensities between normal and abnormal gastric tissues. The processing software was developed by authors using Visual C++(Microsoft, WA, U.S.A.) and mathematical/statistical library of GNUwin32(Free Software Foundation). This study shows that 3D diffusion tensor Turbo FLASH sequence is useful to resolve fine micro-structures of gastric tissue and both ADC and FA values in normal gastric tissue are higher than those in abnormal tissue. Authors expect that this study also represents another possibility of gastric carcinoma detection by visualizing diffusion characteristics of proton spins in the gastric tissues.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.375-383
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• 2020

BACKGROUND: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical widely used in polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins. BPA is an endocrine disruptor. Residue of BPA in agricultural environments is a major concern. The objective of this study was to understand the characteristics of the uptake and distribution of BPA and its metabolites introduced into the agricultural environment to crops, and to use it as basic data for further research on reduction of BPA in agricultural products. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study established the analysis method of BPA and its metabolites in soil and crops, and estimated the intake of BPA and its metabolites from lettuce (Lactuca sativa) grown in sandy loam and loam soil, which are representative soils in Korea. The two major metabolites of BPA were 4-hydroxyacetophenone (4-HAP) and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA). BPA, 4-HAP and 4-HBA have been analyzed by using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). These substances were detected in sandy loam and loam soil, indicating that certain portions of BPA were converted to 4-HAP and 4-HBA in the soil; however, it was observed that only 4-HBA migrated to lettuce through the roots into crops. CONCLUSION: The uptake residues showed the BPA and 4-HAP were not detected in lettuces grown on sandy loam (SL) and loam (L) soil treatments that were applied with of 10 ng/g, 50 ng/kg and 500 ng/g of BPA. However, the 4-HBA was detected at the level of 7 ng/g and 11 ng/g in the lettuce grown in sandy loam and loam soil that were treated with the 500 ng/g of BPA, respectively, while the 8 ng/g of 4-HBA was measured in the lettuce cultivated in the loam that was treated with 100 ng/g of BPA. This result presents that the BPA persisting in the soil of the pot was absorbed through the lettuce roots and then distributed in the lettuce leaves at the converted form of 4-HBA, what is the oxidative metabolite of BPA.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2023

The external weather conditions including temperature and wind speed in the Saemangeum reclaimed land is different from that of the inland, affecting the internal environment of the greenhouse. Therefore, it is important to select an appropriate covering material considering the insulation effect according to the type and characteristics of the covering material considering the weather condition in the Saemangeum reclaimed land. A hexahedral insulation chamber was designed to evaluate the insulation efficiency of each glass-clad material in the outside weather condition in reclaimed land. In order to evaluate the insulation effect of each covering material, a radiator was installed and real-time power consumption was monitored. 16-mm PC (polycarbonate), 16-mm PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), 4-mm greenhouse glass, and 16-mm double-layered glass were used as the covering materials of the chamber. In order to understand the effect of the external wind directions, the windward and downwind insulation properties were evaluated. As a result of comparing the thermal insulation effect of each greenhouse cover material to single-layer glass, the thermal insulation effect of double-layer glass was 16.9% higher, while PMMA and PC were 62.5% and 131.2% higher respectively. On average the wind speed on the windward side was 53.1% higher than that on the lee-wind side, and the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the chamber at the wind ward side was found to be 52.0% larger than that on the lee ward side. During the experiment period, the overall heating operation time for PC was 39.2% lower compared to other insulation materials. Showing highest energy efficiency, and compared to PC, single-layer glass power consumption was 37.4% higher.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.417-426
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• 2022

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the chemicals used in monomer epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics. The surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) method is precise for identifying biological materials and chemicals at considerably low concentrations. In the present article, the substrates coated with gold nanoparticles have been studied to identify BPA and control the diseases caused by this chemical. Gold nanoparticles were made by a simple chemical method and by applying gold salt and trisodium citrate dihydrate reductant and were coated on glass substrates by a spin-coat approach. Finally, using these SERS substrates as plasmonic sensors and Raman spectroscopy, the Raman signal enhancement of molecular vibrations of BPA was investigated. Then, the molecular vibrations of BPA in some consumer goods were identified by applying SERS substrates as plasmonic sensors and Raman spectroscopy. The fabricated gold nanoparticles are spherical and quasi-spherical nanoparticles that confirm the formation of gold nanoparticles by observing the plasmon resonance peak at 517 nm. Active SERS substrates have been coated with nanoparticles, which improve the Raman signal. The enhancement of the Raman signal is due to the resonance of the surface plasmons of the nanoparticles. Active SERS substrates, gold nanoparticles deposited on a glass substrate, were fabricated for the detection of BPA; a detection limit of 10-9 M and a relative standard deviation (RSD) equal to 4.17% were obtained for ten repeated measurements in the concentration of 10-9 M. Hence, the Raman results indicate that the active SERS substrates, gold nanoparticles for the detection of BPA along with the developed methods, show promising results for SERS-based studies and can lead to the development of microsensors. In Raman spectroscopy, SERS active substrate coated with gold nanoparticles are of interest, which is larger than gold particles due to the resonance of the surface plasmons of gold nanoparticles and the scattering of light from gold particles since the Raman signal amplifies the molecular vibrations of BPA. By decreasing the concentration of BPA deposited on the active SERS substrates, the Raman signal is also weakened due to the reduction of molecular vibrations. By increasing the surface roughness of the active SERS substrates, the Raman signal can be enhanced due to increased light scattering from rough centers, which are the same as the larger particles created throughout the deposition by the spin-coat method, and as a result, they enhance the signal by increasing the scattering of light. Then, the molecular vibrations of BPA were identified in some consumer goods by SERS substrates as plasmonic sensors and Raman spectroscopy.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.56-66
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• 1999

Growth of Dendranthema grandiflorum R. ‘Bongwhang’plantlets, as affected by three levels of photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), 70, 150 and 220 $\mu$mol. $m^{-2}$ . $s^{-1}$ , three levels of C $O_{2}$ concentration, 400-500 (ambient), 1000 and 2000 $\mu$mol.mo $l^{-1}$ , and two levels of number of air exchanges per hour (NAEH), 0.1 $h^{-1}$ and 2.8 $h^{-l}$, was studied. Explants were obtained from photomixotrophically-micropropagated plantlets. Four explants were planted in each 3.7$\times$10$^{-4}$ $m^{3}$ polycarbonate box containing MS medium supplemented with 1.25 meq. $L^{-1}$ $H_{2}$P $O_{4}$$^{[-10]}$ and no added sugar. Explants were cultured under cool-white fluorescent lamps (16 h. $d^{-1}$ ), at 25$\pm$1$^{\circ}C$ temperature, and 70-80% relative humidity. In treatments of 2.8 $h^{-1}$ NAEH, a 10 mm round hole made on the vessel cap was sealed with a microporous filter For higher C $O_{2}$ concentrations in the culture room, C $O_{2}$ gas was provided from a tank of liquefied C $O_{2}$. Fresh and dry weights, height, length of the longest roots, number of leaves, and leaf area significantly increased with increasing PPF and especially, with increasing C $O_{2}$ concentration. Growth was enhanced with increased number of air exchanges per hour (2.8 $h^{-1}$ ). Overall, treatment of 220$\mu$mol. $m^{-2}$ . $s^{-1}$ PPF combined with 2000$\mu$mol.mo $l^{-1}$ C $O_{2}$ and 2.8 $h^{-1}$ NAEH gave the most vigorous growth of Dendranthema grandiflorum R. ‘Bongwhang’ plantlets in vitro.o.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2011

Bisphenol A (BPA) is mainly used in the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, which is a known endocrine disruptor and acutely toxic to aquatic organisms. In this study, estrogenic effect of BPA was investigated on hybrid between Oryzias dancena and O. javanicus (ODJ). ODJ were exposed to BPA of various concentrations (eg. 2.5 mg/L, 5.0 mg/L and 10.0 mg/L) for 56 days. The growth rate, abnormality and the ratio of female and male were observed in test group and control group. As a result, the growth was $14.7{\pm}2.0$ mm in total length (TL) in 2.5 mg/L, $13.7{\pm}2.5$ mm in 5.0 mg/L, $12.8{\pm}2.5$ mm in 10.0 mg/L in test group while it was $18.0{\pm}1.2$ mm in TL in control group which was not treated with bisphenol A. The result showed that the growth decreased as the concentration of BPA increased. The abnormality rate was 13.6% in control group, 65.4% in 2.5 mg/L, 81.3% in 5.0 mg/L and 98.1 % in 10.0 mg/L which showed increase in abnormality as an increase of BPA concentration. As a result of analyzing ratio of sex in the test group and control group, 6.0% was examined to be interspecific in controls, 76.9% in 2.5 mg/L and 100.0% in 5.0 mg/L and 10.0 mg/L. In conclusion, these results suggest that BPA has estrogenic effect on ODJ.