• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.22 no.7
• /
• pp.787-799
• /
• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the accumulation of metallic elements and the control effect of marine pollution caused by ocean dumping in the sediments at a waste disposal area in the Yellow Sea. In July 2009, concentrations of organic matter and metallic elements (Al, Fe, As, Cd, Cr, Co, Hg, Ni, Mn, Pb, and Zn) were measured in surface sediments at the site. The ignition loss (IL) in the surface sediments showed a mean value of 15.4%, about 1.5 times higher than the mean value of the sediments in the coastal areas of Korea. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) at some disposal sites exceeded 20 mg $O_2/g{\cdot}dry$, which signifies the initial concentration of marine sediment pollutants in Japan. The disposal sites contain higher concentrations of Cr, Cu and Zn than the sediments of bays and estuaries that might be contaminated. The magnitude of both metal enrichment factors (EF) and adverse biological effects suggest that pollution with Cr and Ni occurred due to the dumping of waste in the study area. In addition, the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) showed that the surface sediments were moderately contaminated. By the mid-2000s, when the amount of waste dumped at this site was the highest, the concentration of metallic elements was higher than ever recorded. On the other hand, in 2008-09, the need for environmental management was relatively low compare with the peak. As a result, the quality of marine sediment has been enhanced, considering the effect of waste reduction and natural dilution in the disposal area.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.44 no.4 s.141
• /
• pp.307-315
• /
• 2005

In this study we tried to develop a biological method for evaluating environment using the potter wasps as an indicator. Wasp species in family Eumenidae, were collected from 13 locations including agricultural area using nest trap. The wasps collected were classified and selected candidate species as an environmental evaluation indicator. Seven species were collected and the Anterhynchium flavomarginatum was the most dominant species. The number of the nest of potter wasps was 12.8/m both in the non-fertilizer and the non-pesticide areas and 7.2/m in the general agricultural areas. The number of nests was 13.4/m in the location where the Degree of Green Naturality (DGN) was high (4.28) and it was 1.2/m where the DGN was low (1.00), suggesting that the index of both richness and diversity tend to increase in locations with more nests. Based on these results, A. flavomarginatum, Orancistrocerus drewseni (Saussure), Isodontia nigellus and Chalicodoma sculpturalis were selected as indicator species for the evaluation of environment including agricultural ecosystem. And a standard for grading an environment (I to IV) was made based on the occurrence, the total number of nesting and the species diversity of potter wasps.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.22 no.10
• /
• pp.1344-1351
• /
• 2012

We studied the physical, chemical, biological, and antimicrobial effects of eight types of essential oils used in the cosmetics industry: lavender, tea tree, rosemary, juniper berry, Chamaecyparis obtusa, cypress, cedar wood, and pine. Lavender oil had a linalyl acetate (an ester chemical compound) content of 48% and radical scavenging activity of 22.36% at 5,000 ppm. Tea tree oil had radical scavenging activity of 43.94% at 5,000 ppm and antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. mutans, and C. albicans in each 6, 3.5, 6.5, and 5 mm, respectively. Chamaecyparis obtusa oil had the highest acidity (pH 2.64) compared with the other oils, and sesquiterpene compounds were found to have 19.20%. Cedar wood oil had the highest specific gravity and refractive index compared to the other oils and had a sesquiterpene content of 99.73%. The radical scavenging activity of cedar wood essential oil exceeded 39.68% at 5,000 ppm. The clear zone, indicating antimicrobial activity against P. acnes, P. ovale, and C. albicans, was 3.5, 6, and 6 mm, respectively, at a concentration of 1% cedar wood oil. Results showed that with a high sesquiterpene content, the antioxidant effect was generally, but not always, high, suggesting that this is determined according to composition of the compound rather than presence of each antioxidant. The results indicate that antimicrobial activity is determined by the existence of each antimicrobial ingredient rather than terpene composition.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.497-503
• /
• 2004

Numerical simulation of blood flow has been conducted based on real vessel geometries generated front DICOM medical images of abdominal and iliac bifurcated arteries of a healthy man. A program was developed to read cross sectional images of the three dimensional arteries and smoothly extract boundary coordinates of vessels. Commercial programs were employed for mesh generation and flow simulation. Pressures, velocities, and flow distributions were found to lie within normal physiological ranges. Peak velocity measured in the iliac artery by ultrasound was 20% smaller than that obtained by simulation. The trend of velocity variation in a cardiac cycle was fairly similar between the simulation and the ultrasonic measurements. Simulation based on real vessel geometry of individual patient provides information on pressure, velocity, and its distribution in the diseased arteries or arteries to be surgically treated. The results of simulation may help surgeons to better understand hemodynamic status and surgical need of the patient by revealing variation of the hemodynamic parameters. Futhermore, they may serve as basic data for surgical treatment of arteries. This research is expected to develop to a program in the future that early diagnose atherosclerosis by showing distribution of a hemodynamic index closely related to atherosclerosis in arteries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.506-510
• /
• 2002

The effect of antioxidant activity of Platycodon grandiflorum (PG) on the liposomal phospholipid membrane was investigated by spectrophotometry. Membrane oxidation causes damage to the membrane fluidity and permeability. It brings further destruction to the sustenance of biological homeostasis. In addition, it is related to several diseases, aging and carcinogenesis. The sample PG was extracted and fractionated to five different types; butanol (PGMB), ethylacetate (PGMEA), ethylether (PGMEE), hexane (PGMH) and methanol (PGMM). The oxidation indices of PGMEA and PGMEE fractions in oxidized dilinoleoylphosphatidylcholine (DLPC) liposomes had stronger antioxidant activities than that of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and were similar to antioxidant activities compared with butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), a well-known potent antioxidant, in oxidized DLPC liposomes. The oxidation indices of PGMM extract, PGMB and PGMH fractions exhibited weak antioxidant activity compared with ${\alpha}$-tocopherol in oxidized DLPC liposomes. The oxidation indiex of PGMEE fractions added with vitamin C showed even strong antioxidant activity in the oxidized DLPC liposomes. The oxidation activity of BHT with vitamin C also proved to be stronger than BHT without vitamin C. Therefore vitamin C evidently helps to improve the effect of antioxidant in DLPC liposomes. These results indicate that potentially bioactive substances in PGMEE fraction has a function as potent antioxidant against phospholipid membrane oxidation.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.17-28
• /
• 2012

Recent development of 3D technologies made it possible that observers perceive 3D depth from two dimensional images. Despite this kind of technological development, when observers watch 3D display they experience 3D visual fatigue that they do not usually experience in real life. It is critical to measure visual fatigue in order to overcome the problem of 3D visual fatigue. The purpose of the present study was to develop a protocol to measure 3D visual fatigue based on an EEG signal and to examine its validity. The first experiment explored the possible ERP components that reflected visual fatigue in 2D and 3D conditions. The second experiment examined whether the feature of the component found in the first experiment was affected by the amount of binocular disparity. Both in Cz and Pz channels, the peak amplitude of P3 component was much lower in 3D rather than in 2D conditions, and it decreased as the amount of binocular disparity increased. The subjective 3D visual fatigue also increased with the amount of binocular disparity. These results imply that the peak amplitude of P3 component at Cz and Pz channels can be used as an index of 3D visual fatigue.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.30-37
• /
• 2015

BACKGROUND: During the winter, the use of deicers was rapidly increased for reduction of traffic accidents as well as injuries in Korea, whose components are largely comprised of calcium chloride and sodium chloride. Recently, to reduce the adverse effects of chloride-deciers such as pollution of water and soil, and decrease of agricultural productivity, the attention of eco-friendly deciers have been increased. This study aimed to investigate biological effects of magnesium chloride deicer (PC-10) and organic acid deicer (EFD-1) against wheat, barley, and spinach. METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined the effect of two deciers, PC-10 and EFD-1 on the seed germination and growth of wheat, barley and spinach. EFD-1 showed higher suppression of the germination than PC-10 among tested crop seeds. In demage index of the seedlings of the crops, there was no symptoms in spinach such as spotting and color change of leaves. EFD-1 showed much stronger inhibitory effect on the germination of tested crop seeds than PC-10 when crops were exposed continuously to tested deciers in soils. The growth and shoot and root in examined crops was relatively higher in PC-10 treatment than in EFD-1 treatment when compared to the control. The biomass decrease was found in all examined conditions of deciers. PC-10 showed 23-35% reduction of biomass whereas EFD-1 exhibited 39-84% loss in all examined crops at over 2% concentration. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the effects of deicers used in this study by inputting into soil against growing tested crops cause the reduction of germination of seeds, growth, and biomass compared to the control.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.58-61
• /
• 2001

A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate the effect of R(+), S(-) and racemic mixture of fenoxaprop-ethyl on rice and barnyardgrass. In addition, in wire acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase inhibition to those chiral compounds was determined. In the greenhouse trial, the R(+) and S(-) fenoxaprop showed respectively tile highest and the lowest biological activity on both plants. This dose-response in whole plant level was consistent with the result of in vitro dose-response of acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase. These results corfirmed tllat the R(+) isomer is biologically more active than the S(-) isomer, and the target site of fenoxaprop is the enzyme acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase. It was an interesting result that rice safety was improved in the S(-) isomer compared with the R(+), and the respective selectivity index was 1.5 and 0.57 in a greenhouse experiment; however, those values resulting from ACCase assay were not substantially different each other at in vitro level. Those results suggested that the fundamental selectivity of fenoxaprop-ethyl between rice and barnyardgrass would not exist at target site level.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.91-98
• /
• 2001

The mycelial morphology during submerged cultivation of Ganoderma ludium using by air-lift fermenter system were analyzed by image processing system and the characterization of mycelial morphology were investigated. In submerged culture using medium with different ammonium phosphate concentrations, the various morphological forms of G. lucidum mycelium were observed. The filamentous forms such as non-branched long filamentous mycelium, non-branched short mycelium, branched long filamentous mycelium, branched short mycelium, entangled mycelium and clump were observed, and also, and also, the pelleted forms such as smooth pellet, rough pellet and hollow rough pellet were observed. The mycelial morphology was changed from the filamentous to the pelleted forms by addition of ammonium phosphate. The fractal dimensions of pelleted and filamentous forms were 1.05 and 1.3, respectively, while the fractal dimension of mixtures of pelleted and filamentous forms was 1.16. Therefore, the fractal dimension was found to be more effective index for the detection of the mycelial morphology and morphological change during batch cultivation. The circularity was also found to be useful for evaluating the surface growth of pelleted mycelium.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.101-113
• /
• 2011

Objectives : Trend of R&D of herbal medicine for dementia treatment was examined based on the quantitative information analysis for establishing the national strategy of research on dementia treatment with oriental medicine. Methods : Definition was made to clarify the technology for development of herbal medicine for dementia treatment. Based on the initial keyword provided by experts in the field, queries were compounded to conduct search in the search engines of WoS and DWPI. The raw data (papers or patents) extracted from the initial search were examined by expert-review before objects of analysis were determined. Then, the accumulated data was analyzed in terms of year, country and organization, which led to examination of the trend of R&D. And the research performance evaluation for dementia treatment technologies was also made in terms of country, organization and researcher based on the forward citation analysis. The international cooperation intensity was examined on the basis of analysis of network by researcher before analysis results were put together to select lead researchers. Results : According to the quantitative information analysis of 1,330 articles that were selected as analysis objects, the number of papers on natural products research for dementia treatment has increased by around 4.6 times in recent five years. This indicates that the intensive studies have been underway recently. It was found to be the US that had the highest level in research filed of herbal medicine for dementia treatment and the highest capacity of international cooperation for that purpose. On the contrary, Korea had the share of papers at 5.1%, the number of countries in cooperation research at 8, and the article quality index at 0.40, showing that the qualitative level was insufficient, compared to the quantitative outcome. In particular, Korea was found to have no intensity of international cooperation among researchers. In case of patent, the results of information analysis of 305 patents selected as analysis objects demonstrated that China had the highest share while Korea had the very low frequency of patent application quantitatively. Conclusions : In this study, the research to develop herbal medicine for dementia treatment has recently drawn much attention that has spread around the globe. Therefore, these results suggest establishing the strategy to develop technology for dementia treatment with oriental medicine in the future based on quantitative information analysis.