• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.945-956
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• 2021

In this study, the effects of single and binary heavy metals toxicity on the growth and phosphorus removal ability of Bacillus sp.. known as be a phosphorus-removing microorganism, were quantitatively evaluated. Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni were used as heavy metals. As a result of analysis of variance of the half of inhibition concentration and half of effective concentration for each single heavy metal treatment group, the inhibitory effect on the growth of Bacillus sp. was Ni < Pb < Zn < Cu < Cd. And the inhibitory effect on phosphorus removal by Bacillus sp. was Ni < Pb < Zn < Cu < Cd. When analyzing the correlation between growth inhibition and phosphorus removal efficiency of a single heavy metal treatment group, a negative correlation was found (R² = 0.815), and a positive correlation was found when the correlation between IC₅₀ and EC₅₀ was analyzed (R² = 0.959). In all binary heavy metal treatment groups, the interaction was an antagonistic effect when evaluated using the additive toxicity index method. This paper is considered to be basic data on the toxic effects of heavy metals when phosphorus is removed using phosphorus removal microorganisms in wastewater.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.279-286
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• 2023

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the association between exposure to occupational hazards and the metabolic syndrome. A secondary objective was to analyze the additive and multiplicative effects of exposure to risk factors. Methods: This retrospective cohort was based on 31,615 health examinees at the Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital in Republic of Korea from 2012-2021. Demographic and behavior-related risk factors were treated as confounding factors, whereas three physical factors, 19 organic solvents and aerosols, and 13 metals and dust were considered occupational risk factors. Time-dependent Cox regression analysis was used to calculate hazard ratios. Results: The risk of metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in night shift workers (hazard ratio = 1.45: 95% confidence interval = 1.36-1.54) and workers who were exposed to noise (1.15:1.07-1.24). Exposure to some other risk factors was also significantly associated with a higher risk of metabolic syndrome. They were dimethylformamide, acetonitrile, trichloroethylene, xylene, styrene, toluene, dichloromethane, copper, antimony, lead, copper, iron, welding fume, and manganese. Among the 28 significant pairs, 19 exhibited both positive additive and multiplicative effects. Conclusions: Exposure to single or combined occupational risk factors may increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Working conditions should be monitored and improved to reduce exposure to occupational hazards and prevent the development of the metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.108-119
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• 2024

Objectives: Abrupt changes in air pollution levels associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak present a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of air pollution on influenza risk, at a time when emission sources were less active and personal hygiene practices were more rigorous. Methods: This time-series study examined the relationship between influenza cases (n=22 874) and air pollutant concentrations from 2018 to 2021, comparing the timeframes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in and around Thailand's Khon Kaen province. Poisson generalized additive modeling was employed to estimate the relative risk of hospitalization for influenza associated with air pollutant levels. Results: Before the COVID-19 outbreak, both the average daily number of influenza hospitalizations and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 ㎛ or less (PM_2.5) concentration exceeded those later observed during the pandemic (p<0.001). In single-pollutant models, a 10 ㎍/m³ increase in PM_2.5 before COVID-19 was significantly associated with increased influenza risk upon exposure to cumulative-day lags, specifically lags 0-5 and 0-6 (p<0.01). After adjustment for co-pollutants, PM_2.5 demonstrated the strongest effects at lags 0 and 4, with elevated risk found across all cumulative-day lags (0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-4, 0-5, and 0-6) and significantly greater risk in the winter and summer at lag 0-5 (p<0.01). However, the PM_2.5 level was not significantly associated with influenza risk during the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusions: Lockdown measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic could mitigate the risk of PM_2.5-induced influenza. Effective regulatory actions in the context of COVID-19 may decrease PM_2.5 emissions and improve hygiene practices, thereby reducing influenza hospitalizations.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1541-1546
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• 2015

The objective of this research was to evaluate the toxicity of the industial xenobiotic Aroclor 1248 (A) and natural origin substances~elemental sulfur (S80) and oleic acid (OA) and their binary mixtures to V. fischeri bioluminescence during the prolonged exposure time (up to 60 min). The bioluminescence quenching test was used to determine the toxic effects. Full factorial experiment design and multiple regression analysis and the comparison of binary mixture effect with the sum of effects of individual chemicals were used for the evaluation of combined effects of toxicants. The analysis of general trend of mixture toxicity to bioluminescence showed that mixture toxic effects were reversible up to 60 min. Data analysis revealed different joint effects, which were depended on mixture composition. S80 enhanced toxic effect of A and acted additively with synergistic interaction. Hydrophobic OA in mixture with A acted antagonistically and in mixture with sulfur caused an additive effect with antagonistic component of interaction. It was concluded that low concentrations of natural toxic substances present in environmental samples as mixtures of chemicals can define the toxicodynamic character of industrial xenobiotics.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.32-39
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• 2013

This research focused on the effects of heavy metals on the biomonitoring activity of genetically engineered bioluminescent bacteria, Pseudomonas putida mt-2 KG1206. KG1206 was exposed to single or binary mixtures of different heavy metals as well as soils contaminated with heavy metals. In case of single exposure with different inducer pollutant, the toxicity order was as followings : As(III) > Cd, As(V) >> Cu, Cr(VI). The toxic effects of the binary mixtures was compared to the expected effect based on a simple theory of probabilities. The interactive effects were mostly additive, while in few cases antgonistic and synergistic mode of action was observed for some concentration combinations. No considerable correlation was found between the total metal contents in soils and the bioluminescence activity of each sample. However, statistically significant differences (p = 0.0102) were observed between two groups, classified based on arsenite contamination. These results demonstrate the usage of recombinant bioluminescent microorganism in biomonitoring and the complex interactive effects of metals.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.123-130
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• 1995

Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone, is isolated from the leafy portion of the Artemisia annua and has been known to be effective against Plasmodium species. Since the genera of Plasmodium and Eimeria(E) tenella are included the same order, Eucoccidiidae, it is presumed that artemisinin may also be effective against E tenella. In order to study the anticoccididal effects of artemisinin, the chickens inoculated with E tenella were treated with artemisinin at different concentrations as feed additive and the results were compared to those of non-medicated, infected control(NIC) and non-medicated, non-infected control(NNC) group. Artemisinin demonstrated anticoccidial effects by showing, compared to NIC group, improved results in all parameters, such as bloody diarrhea, lesion scores, the numbers of excreted oocystis in feces, body weight gain and feed conversion rate. Anticoccidial index(ACI) of artemisinin treated group (5ppm~50ppm) was higher than that of NIC group. Improvements were greatest in the group treated with artemisinin 50ppm with an ACI of 147.6. These results indicate that artemisinin has anticoccidial effects on the Eimeria tenella.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2016

BACKGROUND: This study was initiated to quantitatively evaluate the effects of five heavy metals on the growth and P removal efficiencies of Alcaligenes sp., known as the Phosphorus Accumulating Organisms (PAOs). It was cultivated in the batch system with five heavy metals, such as Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni, added in single and binary mixtures, respectively.METHODS AND RESULTS: IC₅₀ (half of inhibition concentration of bacterial growth) and EC₅₀ (half of effective concentration of phosphorus removal Efficiencies) were used to quantitatively evaluate the effects of heavy metals on the growth and phosphorus removal Efficiencies of Alcaligenes sp. In addition, Additive Index Value (A.I.V.) method was used to evaluate the interactive effects between Alcaligenes sp. and heavy metals. As a result, as the five heavy metals were singly added to Alcaligenes sp., the greatest inhibitory effects on the growth and P removal efficiencies of each bacteria was observed in the cadmium (Cd). In the binary mixture treatments of heavy metals, the treatments of lowest IC₅₀ and EC₅₀ were the Cd + Cu treatment. Based on the IC₅₀ and EC₅₀ of the binary mixtures of heavy metals treatments, most interactive effects between the heavy metals were found to be antagonistic.CONCLUSION: Based on the results obtained from this study, it appears that they could provide the basic information about the toxic effects of the respective treatments of single and binary mixtures of heavy metals on the growth and P removal efficiencies of Alcaligenes sp. through further study about the characterization of functional proteins involved in toxic effects of heavy metals.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2013

The Geyoungju Ca-bentonite with dry density of 1.6 g/$cm^3$ has been considered as a standard buffer material for the disposal of high level waste in KAERI disposal system design. But it had relatively lower thermal conductivity compared with other surrounding materials, that was one of key parameters to limit the increase of the disposal density in the disposal system. In this study, various additives were selected and mixed with the Ca-bentonite in different mixing methods in order to increase the thermal conductivity from 0.8 W/mK to 1.0 W/mK. As an additive, CNT (Cabon Nano Tube), graphite, alumina, CuO, and $Fe_2O_3$ were selected, which are chemically stable and have good thermal conductivity. As mixing methods, dry hand-mixer mixing, wet milling and dry ball mill mixing were applied for the mixing. Above all, the ball mill mixing was proved to be most effective since the produced mixture was most homogeneous and showed higher increase in the thermal conductivity. From this study, it was confirmed that the thermal conductivity for the Geyoungju Ca-bentonite could be improved by adding small amount of highly thermal conductive material to 1.0 W/mk. In conclusion, it was believed that the experimental results will be valuable in the disposal system design if the additive effects on the swelling and permeability on the compact bentonite are also approved in further studies.

• Composites Research
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1-8
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• 2000

The fabrication Process of $Al_2O_{3p}$/AC8A composites by pressureless infiltration technique and the effects of additive Mg content and volume fraction of particulate reinforcement on mechanical and wear properties were investigated. It was found that the bending strength decreased with increasing volume fraction of $Al_2O_{3p}$ particles. Whereas hardness increased with volume fraction of $Al_2O_{3p}$ particles. The decrement of strength in case of high volume fraction of $Al_2O_{3p}$ particles was attributed to high porosity level. In terms of additive Mg content, $Al_2O_{3p}$/AC8A composites containing around 5~7wt% of additive Mg indicated the highest strength, and hardness values increased with additive Mg contents. Wear resistance of AC8A alloy were improved by reinforcement of $Al_2O_{3p}$ particles especially at high sliding velocity. Wear property of $Al_2O_{3p}$/AC8A composites and AC8A alloy exhibited different aspects. $Al_2O_{3p}$/AC8A composites indicated more wear loss than AC8A alloy at slow velocity region. However a transition point of wear loss was found at middle velocity region which shows the minimum wear loss and wear loss at high velocity region exhibited almost same value as at slow velocity region, whereas wear loss of AC8A alloy almost linearly increased with sliding velocity. It was found that $Al_2O_{3p}$/AC8A composites containing $Al_2O_{3p}$ volume fraction of 20% exhibited abrasive wear surface regardless of sliding velocity and $Al_2O_{3p}$/AC8A composites containing $Al_2O_{3p}$ volume fraction of 40% showed slightly adhesive wear surface at low sliding velocity, and it progressed to severe wear as increasing the sliding velocity.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 2004

This study was conducted for improvement of meat quality in broiler chcikens. Birds were fed basal diet(control), ferritin, illite, betafin, or wood vinegar counting broiler feed according as broiler growth stage. Birds fed with basal diet, which was distributed under the best environmental condition, were more weight gain than other groups reared under same environmental condition. In the mean weight gain, the ferritin-group showed the highest and the illite-group showed the lowest among the feed additive groups; therefore, the effect of feed requirement change in odor reduction in illite and methyl saving of betafin was lower than those of other feed additives along to pass rear time. Meat quality was appraised by National Livestock Research Institute of RDA. Except the control-group, that had the best feed conversion ratio, the cooking loss of the illite-group was the biggest among groups although the illite-group chickens had a good water hold capacity. Therefore, illite is not good for making merchandise by reason that group chickens get reduction carcass weight after slaughter. On the other hand, the ferritin-group got the highest point of shear stress, cooking loss, and crude fat level. That group showed the best appraise in both breast and leg of sensory test in company and also feed conversion ratio was the highest among feed additive groups. As a result, the ferritin-group might use for making new merchandise among the feed additive groups.