• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.196-204
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• 2019

Background: Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MSMS) for simultaneous analysis of multiple microbial secondary metabolites (MSMs) is potentially subject to interference by matrix components. Methods: We examined potential matrix effects (MEs) in analyses of 31 MSMs using ultraperformance LC-MSMS. Twenty-one dust aliquots from three buildings (seven aliquots/building) were spiked with seven concentrations of each of the MSMs ($6.2pg/{\mu}l-900pg/{\mu}l$) and then extracted. Another set of 21 aliquots were first extracted and then, the extract was spiked with the same concentrations. We added deepoxy-deoxynivalenol (DOM) to all aliquots as a universal internal standard. Ten microliters of the extract was injected into the ultraperformance LC-MSMS. ME was calculated by subtracting the percentage of the response of analyte in spiked extract to that in neat standard from 100. Spiked extract results were used to create a matrix-matched calibration (MMC) curve for estimating MSM concentration in dust spiked before extraction. Results: Analysis of variance was used to examine effects of compound (MSM), building and concentration on response. MEs (range: 63.4%-99.97%) significantly differed by MSM (p < 0.01) and building (p < 0.05). Mean percent recoveries adjusted with DOM and the MMC method were 246.3% (SD = 226.0) and 86.3% (SD = 70.7), respectively. Conclusion: We found that dust MEs resulted in substantial underestimation in quantifying MSMs and that DOM was not an optimal universal internal standard for the adjustment but that the MMC method resulted in more accurate and precise recovery compared with DOM. More research on adjustment methods for dust MEs in the simultaneous analyses of multiple MSMs using LC-MSMS is warranted.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.647-653
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• 2016

Recently, the data image processing has been applied to a variety of fields including broadcasting, communication, computer graphics, medicine, and so on. Generally, the image data may develop the noise during their transmission. Therefore, the studies have been actively conducted to remove the noise on the image. There are diverse types of noise on the image including salt and pepper noise, AWGN, and mixed noise. Hence, the filter algorithm for the image recovery was proposed that salt and pepper noise was processed by histogram and spatial weighted values after defining the noise to lessen the impact of mixed noise added in the image, and AWGN was processed by the pixel information of local mask establishing the weighted values in this study. Regarding the processed results by applying Lena images which were corrupted by salt and pepper noise(P=50%) and AWGN(${\sigma}=10$), suggested algorithm showed the improvement by 7.06[dB], 10.90[dB], 5.97[dB] respectively compared with the existing CWMF, A-TMF, AWMF.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.350-354
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• 1979

The incidence of congenital aortic valvular stenosis has been known rare, and approximately 3-6% of congenital heart diseases. Recently, we experienced 1 case of congenital aortic valvular stenosis, and which was corrected surgically under extracorporeal circulation successfully. A 11 years old male pt. was admitted to N.M.C. because of dyspnea, dizziness, chest pain and episode of syncope. An auscultation, harsh systolic murmur [Gr. IV/VI] was noted at aortic area and also palpable strong thrill. ECG showed LVH c strain pattern and suspicious LVH finding in simple chest P-A film. In Lt. cardiac catheterization, abrupt pressure change [110mmHg] between LV & Aorta was noted across the aortic valve. And aortic insufficiency was absent, well visualized both coronary arteries and suspicious bicuspid aortic valve in aortography. Valve form was bicuspid, large one was noncoronary cusp and another cusp was Rt. & Lt. coronary cusp which was interpositioned rudimentary commissure. Central aortic orifice was about 5ram in diameter. Valvulotomy was done along the fusioned commissure between noncoronary cusp and Rt. & Lt.coronary cusp, and then short incision was added between Rt. coronary cusp & Lt. coronary cusp. Immediate postoperative course smooth but unknown cardiac arrest was noted in POD second day. Complete recovery was done without sequelae by resuscitation. After operation, clinical symptoms were subsided but systolic murmur [Gr. II/VI] was audible at aortic area, diastolic murmur was absent. ECG showed still remained LVH but much decreased R wave voltage in Lt. precordial leads. Simple chest P-A showed no interval changes compared to preop film. Control Lt. heart catheterization revealed still remained pressure gradient [40ramrig] between LV & Aorta. But much decreased pressure gradient compared to preop pressure gradient [110mmHg].

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.74-79
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• 1998

This study was conducted to evaluate the surfactant solutions which influence solvent extraction from light hydrocarbon contaminated soils. Nine characteristic compounds were studied: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, mxylene, p-xylene, n-propylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, and n-butylbenzene which were found in gasoline. Adsee-799 and Witbreak DRA-22 showed some extractive capacity for light hydrocarbons from soil. There was no added advantage obtained by using other surfactants in this study. No removal of contaminants from soil was observed when the surfactant concentration was 0.5 percent or below. When the surfactant concentration was 4 percent, the average recovery for some hydrocarbons was 10.8 percent, which was the best obtained at these levels. There was 10 percent surfactant contribution for methanol extraction from soil with the Witbreak DPG-482 and Witbreak DRA-22. This study provided a useful screening technique for procedures that can be used to remediate soils contaminated with light hydrocarbons.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.376-383
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• 2003

To utilize composts more efficiently, combining composts with fertilizer to meet crop requirements is an appealing alternative. A pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of application rate of composted pig manure blended with fertilizer on the availability and loss of fertilizer-N. Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. cv. Samjin) plants were cultivated for 30 and 60 days. 15N-Labeled urea ($5.24\;^{15}N\;atom\;%$) was added to soil at $450mg\;N\;kg^{-1}$, and unlabeled compost ($0.37\;^{15}N\;atom\;%$) was added at 0, 200, 400, and $600mg\;N\;kg^{-1}$. The amount of plant-N derived from urea was not affected by compost application at rate of $200mg\;N\;kg^{-1}$. However, compost application at 400 and $600mg\;N\;kg^{-1}$ significantly (P<0.05) increased plant assimilation of N from urea irrespective of sampling time, probably because of physicochemical changes in the soil properties allowing urea-N to be assimilated more efficiently. The amount of immobilized urea-N increased with increasing rate of compost application at both growth periods, as the results of increased microbial activities using organic C in the compost. Total recovery of urea-N (as percentage of added N) by Chinese cabbage and soil also increased with increasing rate of compost from 71.5 to 95.6% and from 67.0 to 88.2% at the 30- and 60-days of growth, respectively. These results suggest that increasing rate of compost blending increases plant uptake of fertilizer-N and enhances immobilization of fertilizer-N, which leads to decrease in loss of fertilizer-N. However, information about the fate of immobilized N during future crop cultivation is necessary to verify long-term effect of compost blending.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.856-863
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• 2013

An in vitro gas production technique was used in this study to elucidate the effect of two strains of active live yeast on methane ($CH_4$) production in the large intestinal content of pigs to provide an insight to whether active live yeast could suppress $CH_4$ production in the hindgut of pigs. Treatments used in this study include blank (no substrate and no live yeast cells), control (no live yeast cells) and yeast (YST) supplementation groups (supplemented with live yeast cells, YST1 or YST2). The yeast cultures contained $1.8{\times}10^{10}$ cells per g, which were added at the rates of 0.2 mg and 0.4 mg per ml of the fermented inoculum. Large intestinal contents were collected from 2 Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire pigs, mixed with a phosphate buffer (1:2), and incubated anaerobically at $39^{\circ}C$ for 24 h using 500 mg substrate (dry matter (DM) basis). Total gas and $CH_4$ production decreased (p<0.05) with supplementation of yeast. The methane production reduction potential (MRP) was calculated by assuming net methane concentration for the control as 100%. The MRP of yeast 2 was more than 25%. Compared with the control group, in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration increased (p<0.05) in 0.4 mg/ml YST1 and 0.2 mg/ml YST2 supplementation groups. Proportion of propionate, butyrate and valerate increased (p<0.05), but that of acetate decreased (p<0.05), which led to a decreased (p<0.05) acetate: propionate (A: P) ratio in the both YST2 treatments and the 0.4 mg/ml YST 1 supplementation groups. Hydrogen recovery decreased (p<0.05) with yeast supplementation. Quantity of methanogenic archaea per milliliter of inoculum decreased (p<0.05) with yeast supplementation after 24 h of incubation. Our results suggest that live yeast cells suppressed in vitro $CH_4$ production when inoculated into the large intestinal contents of pigs and shifted the fermentation pattern to favor propionate production together with an increased population of acetogenic bacteria, both of which serve as a competitive pathway for the available H2 resulting in the reduction of methanogenic archaea.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2023

Because the application of lithium has gradually increased for the production of lithium ion batteries (LIBs), more research studies about recycling using solvent extraction (SX) should focus on Li⁺ recovery from the waste solution obtained after the removal of the valuable metals nickel, cobalt and manganese (NCM). The raffinate obtained after the removal of NCM metal contains lithium ions and other impurities such as Na ions. In this study, we optimized a selective SX system using di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) as the extractant and tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) as a modifier in kerosene for the recovery of lithium from a waste solution containing lithium and a high concentration of sodium (Li⁺ = 0.5 ~ 1 wt%, Na⁺ = 3 ~6.5 wt%). The extraction of lithium was tested in different solvent compositions and the most effective extraction occurred in the solution composed of 20% D2EHPA + 20% TBP + and 60% kerosene. In this SX system with added NaOH for saponification, more than 95% lithium was selectively extracted in four extraction steps using an organic to aqueous ratio of 5:1 and an equilibrium pH of 4 ~ 4.5. Additionally, most of the Na⁺ (92% by weight) remained in the raffinate. The extracted lithium is stripped using 8 wt% HCl to yield pure lithium chloride with negligible Na content. The lithium chloride is subsequently treated with high purity ammonium bicarbonate to afford lithium carbonate powder. Finally the lithium carbonate is washed with an adequate amount of water to remove trace amounts of sodium resulting in highly pure lithium carbonate powder (purity > 99.2%).

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.728-737
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• 2003

To evaluate microbial data and salivary measurements from clinically compatible, culture-based screening procedures employed with children younger than 36 months old. Plaque and stimulated saliva specimens were collected from 87 children. The pH of each saliva sample was measured before and after 0.94% lactic acid was added. Specimens were diluted and plated on selective media and non-selective media. Data collected were counts of mutans streptococci (MS) and lactobacilli (LB). In addition, total viable counts (TVC) of specimens, salivary pH and buffering capacity were also assessed. Each variable was compared to caries status of subjects. According to this study, the results were as followed: 1. Highly significant correlation with caries rates were found for counts of MS and LB. 2. The specific counts/ml saliva or plaque above which caries is predicted, or below which caries is not predicted were as follows: 1) Saliva MS; $10^5$ 2) Plaque MS; $2{\times}10^5$ 3) Saliva LB; $10^3$ 4) Plaque LB; $10^3$. 3. Salivary pH and buffering capacity versus caries status were not significant. 4. Microbial screening methods based on mutans streptococci had higher predictive values and odds ratios than methods for lactobacilli. 5. MS counts were clearly the best indicators of caries status in young children. This measurement can easily be obtained in a dental clinical setting both by conventional culture techniques, or commercial kits for MS recovery.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.11-19
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• 2021

Arsenic (As) oxidation followed by precipitation from a high-As(III)-containing leaching solution derived from a sulfidic ore was investigated in this study to remove aqueous As from the solution using activated carbon (AC) with air injection as an oxidant. To obtain the initial leaching solution, a domestic sulfidic ore was leached in a sulfuric acid solution at pH 1 and 50℃ for 95 h, and approximately 7 g/L of Fe and 3 g/L of As were leached out. To determine the effect of the oxidative reaction utilizing AC with air injection, the leaching solution was tested under the following five oxidative conditions at an initial pH of 1 and 90℃ for 72 h: air-only injection; air injection with 1, 5, and 10 w/v% of AC addition; and H₂O₂ addition. The tests in the presence of both air and AC revealed that the oxidation kinetics and As removal were improved by the reaction between the metallic species and the surface group formed on the AC surface. In addition, the greater the amount of AC added, the better was the reaction efficiency, removing 93-94% of As with more than 5 w/v% of AC addition. Finally, X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the precipitate formed from the oxidative reaction was scorodite (FeAsO₄·2H₂O).

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.10
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• pp.1-13
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• 1968

Phytin is a salt(mainly calcium and magnesium) of phytic acid and its purity and molecular formula can be determined by assaying the contents of phosporus, calcium and magnesium in phytin. In order to devise a new method for the quantitative analysis of the three elements in phytin, the chelatometric method was developed as follows: 1) As the pretreatment for phytin analysis, it was ashfied st $550{\sim}600^{\circ}C$ in the presence of concentrated nitric acid. This dry process is more accurate than the wet process. 2) Phosphorus, calcium and megnesium were analyzed by the conventional and the new method described here, for the phytin sample decomposed by the dry process. The ashfied phytin solution in hydrochloric acid was partitioned into cation and anion fractions by means of a ration exchange resin. A portion of the ration fraction was adjusted to pH 7.0, followed by readjustment to pH 10 and titrated with standard EDTA solution using the BT [Eriochrome black T] indicator to obtain the combined value of calcium and magnesium. Another portion of the ration fraction was made to pH 7.0, and a small volume of standard EDTA solution was added to it. pH was adjusted to $12{\sim}13$ with 8 N KOH and it was titrate by a standard EDTA solution in the presence of N-N[2-Hydroxy-1-(2-hydroxy-4-sulfo-1-naphytate)-3-naphthoic acid] diluted powder indicator in order to obtain the calcium content. Magnesium content was calculated from the difference between the two values. From the anion fraction the magnesium ammonium phosphate precipitate was obtained. The precipitate was dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and a standard EDTA solution was added to it. The solution was adjusted to pH 7.0 and then readjusted to pH 10.0 by a buffer solution and titrated with a standard magnesium sulfate solution in the presence of BT indicator to obtain the phosphorus content. The analytical data for phosphorus, calcium and magnesium were 98.9%, 97.1% and 99.1% respectively, in reference to the theoretical values for the formula $C_6H_6O_{24}P_6Mg_4CaNa_2{\cdot}5H_2O$. Statical analysis indicated a good coincidence of the theoretical and experimental values. On the other hand, the observed values for the three elements by the conventional method were 92.4%, 86.8% and 93.8%, respectively, revealing a remarkable difference from the theoretical. 3) When sodium phytate was admixed with starch and subjected to the analysis of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium by the chelatometric method, their recovery was almost 100% 4) In order to confirm the accuracy of this method, phytic acid was reacted with calcium chloride and magnesium chloride in the molar ratio of phytic: calcium chloride: magnesium chloride=1 : 5 : 20 to obtain sodium phytate containing one calcium atom and four magnesium atoms per molecule of sodium phytate. The analytical data for phosporus, calcium and magnesium were coincident with those as determine d by the aforementioned method. The new method employing the dry process, ion exchange resin and chelatometric assay of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium is considered accurate and rapid for the determination of phytin.