• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.91-98
• /
• 2016

The growth area of living modified (LM) cotton has steadily increased every year, since its first commercialization in 1996. Development of environmental risk assessment tools and techniques for LM cotton is required for ecosystem safety. We therefore developed multiplex PCR assays for simultaneous detection of two (MON15985, MON531) and four (GHB614, LLCOTTON25, MON88913 and MON1445) LM cotton events approved in Korea, with event specific primer pairs. The PCR reactions were optimized by using event specific primers of six LM cottons at various concentrations. The reactions allows amplification of estimated amplicons of MON15985 (214 bp), MON531 (270 bp), GHB614 (119 bp), LLCOTTON25 (164 bp), MON88913 (276 bp), and MON1445 (389 bp) from multiplex PCR reactions. The multiplex PCR assay developed allowed that two annealing steps (15 cycles at $55^{\circ}C$ and 25 cycles at $60^{\circ}C$) were performed for amplification of distinguished two LM cottons, and only one annealing step (50 cycles at $60^{\circ}C$) was necessary for tetraplex PCR. Primer extension step of all PCR reactions was skipped for time-effective amplification. Our methods suggest that two multiplex PCR assays can be cost-effective and a rapid diagnostic tool for environmental LMO monitoring of six LM cottons.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.95-105
• /
• 2007

The aim of this study was to determine the residual amounts of PAHs in environmental samples such as crop, soil and water collected from paddy, upland fields and forestlands near industrial zone and/or a thermal power plant in South Korea. All of the samples were analyzed by GC-mass spectrometer. The average contents of total PAHs in soil samples were 140.2 ${\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$ and the range was from 4.3 to $662.9{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$. The detection of benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene and dibenzo(a,h) anthracene which have strong carcinogenecity was ranged from 14.2 to 167.8 ${\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$. The residual amounts and detection frequency of PAHs in soil samples from the iron and heavy industrial areas near Pohang and Busan were 3-folds more than those of the other areas. Amounts of PAHs in upland soil samples was 1.5 folds higher than those of paddy soil samples, suggesting that it may be related to the content of organic matter in soil. The average contents of total PAHs in crop samples were 9.7 ${\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$ which ranged from 4.5 to 52.2 ${\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$. However, the residual amounts of PAHs in water samples were not detected. These results showed that soils and crops were slightly contaminated with PAHs. Therefore, the investigation should be continued for evaluating a safety or risk assessment through expansion of regions and crops.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.227-241
• /
• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between caffeine intake and metabolic syndrome in Korean adults using the 2013 ~ 2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data (KNHANES). Methods: The caffeine database (DB) developed by Food and Drug Safety Assessment Agency in 2014 was used to estimate the caffeine consumption. The food and beverage consumption of the 24 hr recall data of 2013 ~ 2016 KNHANES were matched to items in the caffeine DB and the daily caffeine intakes of the individuals were calculated. The sample was limited to non-pregnant healthy adults aged 19 years and older, who were not taking any medication for disease treatment. Results: The average daily caffeine intake was 41.97 mg, and the daily intake of caffeine of 97% of the participants was from coffee, teas, soft drinks, and other beverages. Multivariate analysis showed that the caffeine intake did not affect metabolic syndrome, hypertension, low HDL-cholesterol, and abdominal obesity. Diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia, however, were 0.76 (95% CI: 0.63 ~ 0.93), and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.77 ~ 0.98) in third quintile (Q3), and 0.66 (95% CI: 0.53 ~ 0.82) and 0.83 (95% CI: 0.73 ~ 0.94) in fourth quintile (Q4) compared to Q1, respectively. Therefore, caffeine intake of 3.66 ~ 45.81 mg per day is related to a lower risk of diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia. Conclusion: The study showed that adequate caffeine intake (approximately 45 mg) was associated with a lower prevalence of diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia. Therefore, it can be used as a guideline for the adequate level of caffeine intake for maintaining health.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.55 no.8
• /
• pp.623-634
• /
• 2022

Due to river maintenance projects such as the creation of hydrophilic areas around rivers and the Four Rivers Project, the flow characteristics of rivers are continuously changing, and the risk of water quality accidents due to the inflow of various pollutants is increasing. In the event of a water quality accident, it is necessary to minimize the effect on the downstream side by predicting the concentration and arrival time of pollutants in consideration of the flow characteristics of the river. In order to track the behavior of these pollutants, it is necessary to calculate the diffusion coefficient and dispersion coefficient for each section of the river. Among them, the dispersion coefficient is used to analyze the diffusion range of soluble pollutants. Existing experimental research cases for tracking the behavior of pollutants require a lot of manpower and cost, and it is difficult to obtain spatially high-resolution data due to limited equipment operation. Recently, research on tracking contaminants using RGB drones has been conducted, but RGB images also have a limitation in that spectral information is limitedly collected. In this study, to supplement the limitations of existing studies, a hyperspectral sensor was mounted on a remote sensing platform using a drone to collect temporally and spatially higher-resolution data than conventional contact measurement. Using the collected spatio-temporal hyperspectral images, the tracer concentration was calculated and the transverse dispersion coefficient was derived. It is expected that by overcoming the limitations of the drone platform through future research and upgrading the dispersion coefficient calculation technology, it will be possible to detect various pollutants leaking into the water system, and to detect changes in various water quality items and river factors.