• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.86-90
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• 2014

Background: Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) was selected as a biomarker of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to explore the accumulation level in the bodies of workers at rubber smoke sheet factories in southern Thailand. Methods: Spot urine samples were taken from four groups of workers from June 2006 to November 2007. The nonexposure or control groups included habitual cigarette smokers and nonsmokers. The other two groups were workers exposed to particle-bound PAHs from rubber wood smoke and they were nonsmokers. All spot urine samples were analyzed for 1-OHP and creatinine levels. Results: The mean${\pm}$standard deviation urinary 1-OHP in the control group of habitual smokers and the nonsmokers was $0.24{\pm}0.16{\mu}mol/mol$ creatinine and not-detected to $0.14{\mu}mol/mol$ creatinine, respectively. In the workers, the 1-OHP levels on workdays had no significant difference from the 1-OHP levels on the days off. The yearly average 1-OHP level was $0.76{\pm}0.41{\mu}mol/mol$ creatinine whereas the average 1-OHP level during 10 consecutive workdays was $1.06{\pm}0.29{\mu}mol/mol$ creatinine (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The urinary 1-OHP levels of workers exposed to PAHs were high. The accumulation of 1-OHP in the body was not clear although the workers had long working hours with few days off during their working experience. Therefore, a regular day off schedule and rotation shift work during high productive RSS should be set for RSS workers.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.3665-3670
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• 2012

Metal-p-$NH_2$-Bn-DOTA (paraammionobenzyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid: ABDOTA) complex was synthesized and purified for bio-tagging to quantify biological target materials using laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS. Since the preparation of a pure and stable tagging complex is the key procedure for quantification, magnetic particles were used to purify the synthesized metal-ABDOTA complex. The magnetic particles immobilized with the complex attracted to a permanent magnet, resulting in fast separation from free un-reacted metal ions in solution. Gd ions formed the metal-complex with a higher yield of 64.3% (${\pm}3.9%$ relative standard deviation (RSD)) than Y ions, 52.3% (${\pm}2.5%$ RSD), in the pH range 4-7. The complex bound to the magnetic particles was released by treatment with a strong base, of which the recovery was 81.7%. As a reference, a solid phase extraction (SPE) column packed with Chelex-100 resin was employed for separation under similar conditions and produced comparable results. The tagging technique complemented polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microarray chip sampling in LA-ICP-MS, allowing determination of small sample volumes at high throughputs. For application, immunoglobulin G (IgG) was immobilized on the pillars of PDMS microarray chips and then tagged with the prepared Gd complex. IgG could then be determined through measurement of Gd by LA-ICP-MS. A detection limit of 1.61 ng/mL (${\pm}0.75%$ RSD) for Gd was obtained.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.271-277
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• 1985

A polarograph with specially designed cell compartment usable in kinetic study of the mitochondrial respiration of a small sized sample was made, and its performance and experimental conditions were examined. An applied potential (ca-1.2V vs. SCE) which gives rise to the second step reduction of oxygen caused a considerable level of a residual current independent of oxygen, which is temporarily interpreted as the reduction current of the membrane-bound redox material(s) of mitochondria. A potential corresponding to the first slop reduction of oxygen (ca-0.4V vs SCE) did not produce the residual current. Thus, it is suggested that a measurement of oxygen concentration in a sample of mitochondria and submitochondrial particles by using dropping mercury electrode should be done with an applied potential of about -0.4V vs SCE. Consumption of oxygen by mitochondria was observed to follow practically zero order kinetics. Its rate constant exhibited the proportional relationship with the respiratory activity of mitochondria. Usefulness of tile instrument was properly demonstrated in the work on the temperature effect on the respiration of mitochondria isolated from several plant 4issues which were selected on the basis of chilling susceptivity.

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• v.73 no.10
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• pp.1420-1430
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• 2018

We investigate an entangled system, which is analogous to a composite system of a black hole and Hawking radiation. If Hawking radiation is well approximated by an outgoing particle generated from pair creation around the black hole, such a pair creation increases the total number of states. There should be a unitary mechanism to reduce the number of states inside the horizon for black hole evaporation. Because the infalling antiparticle has negative energy, as long as the infalling antiparticle finds its partner such that the two particles form a separable state, one can trace out such a zero energy system by maintaining unitarity. In this paper, based on some toy model calculations, we show that such a unitary tracing-out process is only possible before the Page time while it is impossible after the Page time. Hence, after the Page time, if we assume that the process is unitary and the Hawking pair forms a separable state, the internal number of states will monotonically increase, which is supported by the Almheiri-Marolf-Polchinski-Sully (AMPS) argument. In addition, the Hawking particles cannot generate randomness of the entire system; hence, the entanglement entropy cannot reach its maximum. Based on these results, we modify the correct form of the Page curve for the remnant picture. The most important conclusion is this: if we assume unitarity, semi-classical quantum field theory, and general relativity, then the black hole should violate the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy bound around the Page time at the latest; hence, the infinite production arguments for remnants might be applied for semi-classical black holes, which seems very problematic.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.6-12
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• 2008

Peptides with specific sequences against $LaPO_4$ and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were discovered through peptide phage display technique as an application to biomolecular recognition of inorganic materials. Sequencing results showed that a motif consisting of serine and proline was commonly expressed in specific sequences. It was postulated that serine directly bound to nanoparticles using its terminal hydroxyl (OH) group. In this sense, oxygen atom seemed to work as a ligand to metal ions and hydrogen atom as a H-bond donor, was thought to bind to the oxygen atoms or the hydroxyl groups on particle surface. Also, it was expected that proline assists serine to make an ideal van der Waals contact between serine and nanoparticles, which optimizes the binding of peptide onto surface.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.57-68
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• 2023

Bridge hangers, such as those in suspension and cable-stayed bridges, suffer from cumulative fatigue damage caused by dynamic loads (e.g., cyclic traffic and wind loads) in their service condition. Thus, the identification of damage to hangers is important in preserving the service life of the bridge structure. This study develops a new method for condition assessment of bridge hangers. The tension force of the bridge and the damages in the element level can be identified using the Bayesian optimization method. To improve the number of observed data, the additional mass method is combined the Bayesian optimization method. Numerical studies are presented to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. The influence of different acquisition functions, which include expected improvement (EI), probability-of-improvement (PI), lower confidence bound (LCB), and expected improvement per second (EIPC), on the identification of damage to the bridge hanger is studied. Results show that the errors identified by the EI acquisition function are smaller than those identified by the other acquisition functions. The identification of the damage to the bridge hanger with various types of boundary conditions and different levels of measurement noise are also studied. Results show that both the severity of the damage and the tension force can be identified via the proposed method, thereby verifying the robustness of the proposed method. Compared to the genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and nonlinear least-square method (NLS), the Bayesian optimization (BO) performs best in identifying the structural damage and tension force.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2005

Many studies have been performed on the bovine leukemia virus (BLV) since bovine leukosis had been reported in 1968 in Korea. However, there was no report on the ultrastructural examination of BLV. An attempt to detect C-type viral particles in the cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes of Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle, was made to determine whether in vitro viral expression might be used as a reliable method to identify the cow which is likely to transmit BLV. In transmission electron microscopic (TEM) examination, the virus particles were found predominantly outside of the lymphocytes even though a few particles were also observed within the membrane bound cytoplasmic vacuoles. All of them were C-type particles consisting of a central, electron-dense core separated by a clear area from a limiting envelope with a unit membrane structure. Virus particles were easily detected in the lymphocyte which was cultured with medium supplemented with either T-lymphocyte mitogen (conconavalin A) or B-lymphocyte mitogen (lipopolysaccharide). Identical viral particles, although fewer, were also consistently present in the lymphocytes cultured with medium which was containing foetal bovine serum (FBS) only and which was containing neither FBS or mitogen. By contrast, no virus particle was detected in extensive examination of lymphocytes before culture. In conclusion, the BLV cultivation and detection methods established in this study could be used as a tool to identify and eliminate the cattle which can transmit the BLV.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.469-475
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• 2014

The study investigated the physicochemical characteristics and the ecological risk of the Northport sediment in B city and the releasing properties of heavy metals into seawater during the resuspension also studied. The major components of the sediment are fine silt and clay which contains high organic matter and AVS (Acid volatile sulfide) and the ecological risk of the heavy metals in sediment also very high. The release rate of heavy metals into seawater was in order of Pb>>Cu>Cr>>Zn>Cd during the resuspension in a batch experiment, and the heavy metal release mainly attributed to the oxidation of metal sulfides. Heavy metals which came from easily oxidisable metal sulfides rapidly contaminated seawater within about 1.0 h of the sediment resuspension. The sulfide oxidation during the resuspension increased the residual fraction of heavy metals in the sediment, decreased the organic bound fraction, and changed the other fractions of heavy metals in the sediment. The release of heavy metals from the sediment during resuspension was affected by the resuspension time, the oxidation rate of metal sulfides and resuspended concentration of the sediment particle.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.185-193
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• 1999

This paper presents results of dynamic analysis for a bridge in intersection part of two tunnels subjected to moving vehicle load. Since such a bridge system is very unusual due to the fact that it is located in tunnel, the dynamic characteristics of the structure can not be assumed as conventional one. The structure investigated in this study it a reinforced concrete bridge in the intersection part of Namsan Tunnel-1 and Tunnel-2 in Seoul. It is supported by temporary steel structure which shall be constructed during the period of replacing lining in Tunnel-2. Dynamic analysis was carried out for the system using a finite element model constructed by general purpose FE program SAP2000. For this purpose, the structure, lining of tunnels, and surrounding rock were represented by finite elements, while the rock region it truncated and on its outer boundary viscous dampers were placed to simulate radiation of elastic waves generated tunnels. Several types of vehicle with various driving velocities were considered in this analysis. The FE model including vehicle loadings was verified by comparing calculated peak particle velocity with the measured one. From the analysis, the impart factor for the bridge was estimated as 0.21, which indicates that the use of upper bound for the impact factor in design code is reasonable for this kind of bridge system.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2008

The geochemical partitioning of arsenic in contaminated soils from a of wet land and tailing of the abandoned mine is examined. Chemical analysis and sequential extraction method by ultrasound-sonication extraction are applied to investigate the mobility and chemical existence conditions of arsenic as well as heavy metals. The results of this study showed that heavy metals concentration of tailings showed as a following order: Fe > As > Cu > Pb > Cr. The highest metal concentration was recognized in samples less than $63\;{\mu}m$ fraction in their particle sizes. Exchangeable and carbonate fractions in soil samples showed following Cu > As > Pb > Fe > Cr for tailings, and Fe > Pb > Cu > As > Cr for reservoir soils, respectively. Arsenic was bound as exchangeable fraction in tailings and its concentration appeared higher than those of the other metals. Thus, As can be easily dispersed into soil and water environments. The obtained results can be used to design soil remediation plan in the study area and require further detailed study to investigate severe environmental pollution of surface water as well as rivers with respect to heavy metals in terms of speciation analysis of toxic elements such as As and Cr.