• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2000

The rodent uterotrophic assay is currently recommended as one of the primary in vivo assays far endocrine disrupting chemicals by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (US EPA EDSTAC). Generally, this assay relies on the rapid increase in uterus and vagina weights when exposed to estrogenic compounds. Phthalate esters have been used extensively as a plasticizer in the manufacture of plastic products such as PVC films and medical devices. Recently, phthalate esters have been shown to induce endocrine system mediated responses. However, a flew studies have been conducted for the screening of their estrogenic activity. In this study the estrogenic activity of seven phthalate esters, butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butylphthalate (DBP), diethylphthalate (DEP), di-n-pentylphthalate (DPF), di-n-propylphthalate (DPrP) and dicyclohexylphthalate (DCHP), was examined in uterotrophic assay. Phthalate esters dissolved in corn oil were administered to ovariectomized (OVX) female Sprague-Dawley rats by sub-cutaneous injection for three consecutive days. fiats were sacrificed 24h after final treatment, and then uterus and vagina weights were deter mined. All phthalate esters tested in this assay did not change talc uterus and vagina weights at dosage levels up to 200 mg/kg/day treatment. These results demonstrated that phthalate esters did not exhibit estrogenic activity in vivo uterotrophic assay.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.416-423
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• 2000

There is a growing concern that a wide variety of chemicals released into the environment can disrupt the endocrine system of fish, wildlife and humans. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) include pesticides such as DDT lindane and atrazine, the food packaging chemicals, phthalates and bisphenol A, alkylphenol ethoxylate detergents and the chemical industry by-products, dioxins. Xenoestrogens in the environment have been argued about health risk, because of estrogen mimetic chemicals are exposed only small amounts to human. A number of in vivo and in vitro assays are now in use to assess the activity of xenoestrogens in the environment. A human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) was used to develop in vitro screening assay for the detection of xenoestrogenic environmental pollutants. The E-SCREEN (MCF7-BUS) assay is proposed as a reliable, easy and rapid-to-perform method. To optimize and validate this method before it can be used routinely, several phenol compounds and pesticides suspected to be estrogenic were tested using I-SCREEN assay. The results showed that this method is a valuable tool for screening potential estrogen-mimicking environmental pollutants and quantitative determination of estrogeniciy.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.315-322
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• 2000

Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) was first formally established in the Korea in 1981. Subsequently there has been a rapid growth in EIA activity, and over one hundred fifty environmental impact statements are now published in Korea each year. Although EIA now has almost 20 years of history in the Korea, elsewhere the development of roles and practice is more recent. Development is moving apace in many countries, including the Japan and the EU Member States. Such progress has not been without its problems, and a number of the current issues in EIA-scope of the assessment, the relative roles, the quality of assessment and monitoring and auditing after decision, and so on- are highlighted. So the purpose of this article is to reform the EIA roles and process, in extending the scope of activity, and assessing effectiveness. This article suggested improving the effectiveness of project assessment, widening the scope: stretegic environmental assessment, and extending EIA to project design process, environmental monitoring and feedback system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.459-468
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• 2020

This study established a new polymerase spiral reaction (PSR) that combines with reverse transcription reactions for HCV detection targeting 5'UTR gene. To avoid cross-contamination of aerosols, an isothermal amplification tube (IAT), as a separate containment control, was used to judge the result. After optimizing the RT-PSR reaction system, its effectiveness and specificity were tested against 15 different virus strains which included 8 that were HCV positive and 7 as non-HCV controls. The results showed that the RT-PSR assay effectively detected all 8 HCV strains, and no false positives were found among the 7 non-HCV strains. The detection limit of our RT-PSR assay is comparable to the real-time RT-PCR, but is more sensitive than the RT-LAMP. The established RT-PSR assay was further evaluated for detection of HCV in clinical blood samples, and the resulting 80.25% detection rate demonstrated better or similar effectiveness compared to the RT-LAMP (79.63%) and real-time RT-PCR (80.25%). Overall, the results showed that the RT-PSR assay offers high specificity and sensitivity for HCV detection with great potential for screening HCV in clinical blood samples.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.2-6
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• 2006

Ever since the foundation of the Korean Society for Preventive Medicine in 1947, members of the Society had made remarkable contributions to the public health development and national health promotion. They had played key roles in establishing national health system, improving environmental hygiene, controlling infectious and chronic diseases, promoting family planning, improving industrial and environmental health, and developing health service management. However, the Society had less actively responded to the changes in health service needs of the population that were caused by a rapid epidemiologic transition in last a few decades. Early detection and treatment of chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases and risk reduction by the life style modification are major approaches to the contemporary national health problems and they are the core contents of preventive medicine. The author proposed to develop the clinical preventive medicine specialist who will have additional training in clinical medicine for health screening and life style modification to the current preventive medicine training program and thus will be able to provide comprehensive preventive medical services. Another area that the Society may take the initiative is training preventive medicine specialist in the disaster, including bioterrorism, preparedness and management. The Society should be more active in proposing health policy and health service program and also participate collectively in a large scale health research project of the government. These approaches may not only contribute more effectively to the national health promotion but also improve the identity of the Society.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.33-39
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• 2011

As a rapid and quick bioactive compound evaluation technique, we utilized an automatic system of high throughput screening (HTS) to investigate ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory efficacy of seaweeds, collected from Jeju Island in Korea. In this study, different extracts with methanol at $20^{\circ}C$ and $70^{\circ}C$ from 23 species of brown seaweeds and 22 species of red seaweeds and 9 species of green seaweeds were subjected to HTS. Of the brown seaweeds tested, Myelophycus simplex (20B3), Ishige sinicola (20B5, 70B5), Colpomenia sinuosa, (20B14, 70B14), Hizikia fusiforme (20B21), Ishige okamurai (70B22) and Ecklonia cava (70B23) showed significantly high ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity with 96.52%, 98.34%, 98.37%, 80.49%, 96.16%, 76.32%, 98.32% and 98.12%. Schizymenia dubyi (20R15), Gelidium amansii (20R16) and Polysiphonia japonica (70R22) amomng the red seaweeds showed remarkable ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity more than 95%. On the other hand, the green seaweeds showed poor ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities (less the10%) at 1 mg/ml.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.8
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• pp.1289-1295
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to select the most suitable starter cultures for production of fermented sausages. A total of 27 strains isolated from Korean fermented foods and natural substances were characterized with respect to their physicochemical properties in a fluid (submerged) model system modified according to the special conditions of fermented sausages. Three of these strains were pre-selected for testing as potential cultures based on their ability to grow fast and initiate rapid acidification. The selected strains were identified by API and partial sequence analysis of 16S rRNA. The results exhibited sequence similarity to known sequences of Staphylococcus warneri, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Lactobacillus plantarum. Among them, relatively good growth properties and nitrite reduction activities were detected for S. epidermidis and L. plantarum and low pH values and high total acidities were observed in the model system fermented with these isolates compared with reference strains.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.34-38
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to develop a cocktail approach for the measurement of the permeability of marker compounds, caffeine and propranolol (high permeability), ofloxacin (intermediate), atenolol (low), and quinidine (P-glycoprotein substrate), simultaneously. Then we compared the permeability in Caco-2 cells with that in rat intestinal segments. The difference between individual measurement and cocktail approach was less than 20 %, and the permeabilities of these compounds were similar to those previously reported, suggesting that the cocktail transport study and simultaneous drug analysis were successfully developed and validated in this study. Additionally, in the application of this cocktail method, the permeability of five drugs in rat jejunum was similar to that in ileum but different from that in colon, which was measured using the Ussing chamber system. Moreover, permeability in jejunum and ileum was similar to that in Caco-2 cells. In conclusion, the permeability in Caco-2 cells was equivalent to the permeability in rat jejunum and ileum determined with the Ussing system. Therefore, this newly developed cocktail assay and its application to the Ussing system can be a useful tool for robust and rapid screening for site-specific permeability in rat intestine, thus accelerating the prediction of absorption of new chemical entities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.13-20
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• 2009

The risk assessment of thermal hazard to identify chemical or process hazard during early process developments have been considered. The early identification of thermal hazards associated with a process, such as rapid heats of reaction, exothermic decompositions, and the potential for thermal runaways before any large scale operations are undertaken. This paper presents to evaluate the safe operating parameters/envelope for exist plant operations. The assessment of thermal hazard with operating conditions such as amount of process materials, inhibitor, and catalyst on esterification process in manufacture of concrete mixture agents are described. The experiments were performed by a sort of calorimetry with the Multimax reactor system as a screening tool. The aim of the study was to evaluate the thermal risk of process material and mixture in terms of safety security to be practical applications in esterification process. It suggested that we should provide the thermal hazard of reaction materials to present safe operating conditions with cause of accident through this study.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2016

This study reports on the modeling and simulation of heat transfer in packaging boxes used for vaccine shipping. Both water and n-tetradecane are used as primary insulation materials inside a multi-slab system. The one-dimensional model, which is a spherical model using a radius equivalent to the rectangular geometry of container, is applied in this study. N-tetradecane with low thermal diffusivity and proper phase transition temperature exhibits higher heat transfer resistance during both heating and cooling processes compared to water. Thus, n-tetradecane is a better candidate as an insulating material for packaging containers for vaccine shipping. Furthermore, the developed method can also become a rapid and economic tool for screening appropriate phase change materials used as insulation materials with suitable properties in logistics applications.