• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.4
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• pp.469-483
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• 2019

North Korea has experienced floods and sediment-related disasters annually since the 1970s due to deforestation. It is of paramount importance that technologies and trends related to forest restoration and soil erosion control engineering be properly understood in a bid to reduce damage from sediment-related disasters in North Korea, and to effect national territorial management following unification. This paper presents a literature review and bibliometric analysis including 146 related articles published in North Korea. First, we analyzed the textual characteristics of the articles. We then employed the VOSviewer software package to classify the research topic and analyzed this topic based on the time change. The results showed that articles on the topic have consistently increased since the 1990s. In addition, research related to soil erosion control engineering has been classified into four subjects in North Korea: (i) assessment of hazard area on soil erosion and soil loss, sediment related-disasters; (ii) hydraulic and hydrologic understanding of forests; (iii) reasonable construction of soil erosion control structures; and (iv) effects and management plan of soil erosion control works. The proportion of research related to the (ii) hydraulic and hydrologic understanding of forests had been significant during the reign of Kim Ilsung. However, the proportion of research related to the (i) assessment of hazard area on soil erosion and soil loss, sediment-related disasters, increased during the reign of Kim Jongil and Kim Jongun. Using these results, our analysis indicated that an interest in and need for soil erosion control engineering in North Korea has continually increased. The results of this study are expected to serve as a basis for preparing forestry cooperation between North and South Korea, and to serve as essential data for better understanding soil erosion control engineering in North Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.169-174
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• 2017

Acute and chronic toxicities of methyl ethyl ketone and methanol were investigated on Paronychiurus kimi (Collembola), for evaluating the potential effects of accidental exposures of these chemical substances on the terrestrial environments. This study was undertaken to establish a toxicity database for these chemical substances, which was required for the preparation of the response compensation and liability act for agricultural production and environmental damage. The 7-d acute toxicity and 28-d chronic toxicity were conducted using the OECD artificial soil spiked with varying, serially diluted concentrations of methyl ethyl ketone and methanol. Mortality was recorded after 7-d and 28-d of exposures, and the number of juveniles were determined after 28-d of exposure in the chronic toxicity test. In both assessments, methanol was more toxic than methyl ethyl ketone in terms of mortality ($LC_{50}$) and reproduction ($EC_{50}$). The 7-d $LC_{50}$ of methyl ethyl ketone and methanol were 762 and $2378mg\;kg^{-1}$ soil dry wt., respectively, and the 28-d $LC_{50}s$ were 6063 and $1857mg\;kg^{-1}$ soil dry wt., respectively. The 28-d $EC_{50}$ of methyl ethyl ketone and methanol were 265 and $602mg\;kg^{-1}$ soil dry wt., respectively. Comparison of results obtained in this study with literature data revealed that P. kimi was more sensitive to methanol than other soil invertebrates. However, given the high volatility of the chemicals tested in this study, further studies are necessary to improve the current test guideline, or to develop new test guidelines for an accurate assessment of chemicals that require toxicity databases for chemical accidents.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.564-569
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• 2012

Selenium was initially considered toxic to humans, but it was then discovered that selenium is essential for normal life processes. Selenium plays important roles in antioxidants. It is expected that chitosan microcapsules containing nano-selenium will be able to be used as a key material in bio-medical and cosmetic applications. The high concentration of chitosan derivatives guarantees increased antioxidative activity. Both inorganic and organic forms of selenium can be nutritional sources. The antioxidant properties of selenoproteins help prevent cellular damage from free radicals. The objective of this experiment was to study the antioxidative activity of chitosan nano-selenium. Our experiments were divided into five groups, in the presence of various concentrations(0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7%, and 0.9%) of chitosan. We performed an assessment of the antioxidant properties and cytotoxicity of respective concentrations of chitosan nano-selenium. The antioxidant activity was examined by the free radical scavenging activity on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) assay. The cytotoxicity effect was measured by means of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) assay. As a result, the electron donating abilities of 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7%, and 0.9% of chitosan nano-selenium exhibited effective andioxidant scavenging activity at 12.5 ${\mu}g/m{\ell}$ against DPPH radicals. 0.3% chitosan nano-selenium did not show cytotoxicity on human keratinocytes. In general, the cytotoxicity of 0.1% and 0.9% chitosan nano-selenium showed the lowest effects. Though low cytotoxicity of 0.5% and 0.7% chitosan nano-selenium exhibited 29.67% and 38.4% against human keratinocytes on adding 100 ${\mu}g/m{\ell}$ and 50 ${\mu}g/m{\ell}$, respectively, cell vitality was recovered with 200 ${\mu}g/m{\ell}$. These findings support the notion that chitosan nano-selenium may be useful as a new active ingredient source for bioactive compounds.

• 한국유가공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.49-58
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• 2007

Inflammatory process leads to the well-known mucosal damage and therefore a further disturbance of the epithelial barrier function, resulting abnormal intestinal wall function, even further accelerating the inflammatory process[1]. Despite of the records, etiology and pathogenesis of IBD remain rather unclear. There are many studies over the past couple of years have led to great advanced in understanding the inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) and their underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms. From the current understanding, it is likely that chronic inflammation in IBD is due to aggressive cellular immune responses including increased serum concentrations of different cytokines. Therefore, targeted molecules can be specifically eliminated in their expression directly on the transcriptional level. Interesting therapeutic trials are expected against adhesion molecules and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-${\alpha}$. The future development of immune therapies in IBD therefore holds great promises for better treatment modalities of IBD but will also open important new insights into a further understanding of inflammation pathophysiology. Treatment of cytokine inhibitors such as Immunex(Enbrel) and J&J/Centocor(Remicade) which are mouse-derived monoclonal antibodies have been shown in several studies to modulate the symptoms of patients, however, theses TNF inhibitors also have an adverse effect immune-related problems and also are costly and must be administered by injection. Because of the eventual development of unwanted side effects, these two products are used in only a select patient population. The present study was performed to elucidate the ability of TNF-${\alpha}$ antibodies produced in sheep colostrums to neutralize TNF-${\alpha}$ action in a cell-based bioassay and in a small animal model of intestinal inflammation. In vitro study, inhibitory effect of anti-TNF-${\alpha}$ antibody from the sheep was determined by cell bioassay. The antibody from the sheep at 1 in 10,000 dilution was able to completely inhibit TNF-${\alpha}$ activity in the cell bioassay. The antibodies from the same sheep, but different milkings, exhibited some variability in inhibition of TNF-${\alpha}$ activity, but were all greater than the control sample. In vivo study, the degree of inflammation was severe to experiment, despite of the initial pilot trial, main trial 1 was unable to figure out of any effect of antibody to reduce the impact of PAF and LPS. Main rat trial 2 resulted no significant symptoms like characteristic acute diarrhea and weight loss of colitis. This study suggested that colostrums from sheep immunized against TNF-${\alpha}$ significantly inhibited TNF-${\alpha}$ bioactivity in the cell based assay. And the higher than anticipated variability in the two animal models precluded assessment of the ability of antibody to prevent TNF-${\alpha}$ induced intestinal damage in the intact animal. Further study will require to find out an alternative animal model, which is more acceptable to test anti-TNF-${\alpha}$ IgA therapy for reducing the impact of inflammation on gut dysfunction. And subsequent pre-clinical and clinical testing also need generation of more antibody as current supplies are low.

• Proceedings of the Korea Environmental Mutagen Society Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.34-63
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• 2003

Occupational and environmental exposure to manganese continue to represent a realistic public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Increased utility of MMT as a replacement for lead in gasoline creates a new source of environmental exposure to manganese. It is, therefore, imperative that further attention be directed at molecular neurotoxicology of manganese. A Need for a more complete understanding of manganese functions both in health and disease, and for a better defined role of manganese in iron metabolism is well substantiated. The in-depth studies in this area should provide novel information on the potential public health risk associated with manganese exposure. It will also explore novel mechanism(s) of manganese-induced neurotoxicity from the angle of Mn-Fe interaction at both systemic and cellular levels. More importantly, the result of these studies will offer clues to the etiology of IPD and its associated abnormal iron and energy metabolism. To achieve these goals, however, a number of outstanding questions remain to be resolved. First, one must understand what species of manganese in the biological matrices plays critical role in the induction of neurotoxicity, Mn(II) or Mn(III)? In our own studies with aconitase, Cpx-I, and Cpx-II, manganese was added to the buffers as the divalent salt, i.e., $MnCl_2$. While it is quite reasonable to suggest that the effect on aconitase and/or Cpx-I activites was associated with the divalent species of manganese, the experimental design does not preclude the possibility that a manganese species of higher oxidation state, such as Mn(III), is required for the induction of these effects. The ionic radius of Mn(III) is 65 ppm, which is similar to the ionic size to Fe(III) (65 ppm at the high spin state) in aconitase (Nieboer and Fletcher, 1996; Sneed et al., 1953). Thus it is plausible that the higher oxidation state of manganese optimally fits into the geometric space of aconitase, serving as the active species in this enzymatic reaction. In the current literature, most of the studies on manganese toxicity have used Mn(II) as $MnCl_2$ rather than Mn(III). The obvious advantage of Mn(II) is its good water solubility, which allows effortless preparation in either in vivo or in vitro investigation, whereas almost all of the Mn(III) salt products on the comparison between two valent manganese species nearly infeasible. Thus a more intimate collaboration with physiochemists to develop a better way to study Mn(III) species in biological matrices is pressingly needed. Second, In spite of the special affinity of manganese for mitochondria and its similar chemical properties to iron, there is a sound reason to postulate that manganese may act as an iron surrogate in certain iron-requiring enzymes. It is, therefore, imperative to design the physiochemical studies to determine whether manganese can indeed exchange with iron in proteins, and to understand how manganese interacts with tertiary structure of proteins. The studies on binding properties (such as affinity constant, dissociation parameter, etc.) of manganese and iron to key enzymes associated with iron and energy regulation would add additional information to our knowledge of Mn-Fe neurotoxicity. Third, manganese exposure, either in vivo or in vitro, promotes cellular overload of iron. It is still unclear, however, how exactly manganese interacts with cellular iron regulatory processes and what is the mechanism underlying this cellular iron overload. As discussed above, the binding of IRP-I to TfR mRNA leads to the expression of TfR, thereby increasing cellular iron uptake. The sequence encoding TfR mRNA, in particular IRE fragments, has been well-documented in literature. It is therefore possible to use molecular technique to elaborate whether manganese cytotoxicity influences the mRNA expression of iron regulatory proteins and how manganese exposure alters the binding activity of IPRs to TfR mRNA. Finally, the current manganese investigation has largely focused on the issues ranging from disposition/toxicity study to the characterization of clinical symptoms. Much less has been done regarding the risk assessment of environmenta/occupational exposure. One of the unsolved, pressing puzzles is the lack of reliable biomarker(s) for manganese-induced neurologic lesions in long-term, low-level exposure situation. Lack of such a diagnostic means renders it impossible to assess the human health risk and long-term social impact associated with potentially elevated manganese in environment. The biochemical interaction between manganese and iron, particularly the ensuing subtle changes of certain relevant proteins, provides the opportunity to identify and develop such a specific biomarker for manganese-induced neuronal damage. By learning the molecular mechanism of cytotoxicity, one will be able to find a better way for prediction and treatment of manganese-initiated neurodegenerative diseases.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.749-758
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• 2019

The aim of this study is to provide a scientific basis for decision making regarding environmental damage in case of future chemical accidents by evaluating the ecotoxicity of 4 substances requiring preparation for accidents. For this purpose, acute and chronic toxicities of nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia solution, which can change the physical and chemical properties of soil to Paronychiurus kimi(Collembola) were investigated. The pH of artificial soil spiked with a series of test chemical concentrations was also measured. The pH of soil spiked with 10,000 mg kg^-1 of soil nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia solution were 2.86, 2.72, 7.18 and 9.69, respectively. The 28-d LC₅₀ of nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide and ammonia solution were 2,703, 5,414, 3,158 and 859 mg kg^-1 soil dry wt., respectively and 28-d EC₅₀ were 587, 2,148, 1,300 and 216 mg kg^-1 soil dry wt., respectively. These results indicated that the mortality and juvenile production of P. kimi were influenced by not only the soil pH but also by the reduced organic content and products produced by the reaction of soil with the tested chemicals. Given the fact that most substances requiring preparation for accidents can change soil characteristics, assessment and restoration methods that take into account changes in soil properties are needed for accurate decision making after chemical accidents.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.159-170
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• 2003

Heavy metals are extracted from Chonju stream sediment, roadside soils and sediments along Honam expressway, soils and tailings from mining area using three different methods (partial extraction in Standard Method, partial extraction method with maintaining 0.1 N of extraction solution and Sequential Extraction Method). In samples having buffer capacity against acid, pH 1 (0.1 N HCl) of extraction solution can not be maintained and pH of extraction solution increases up to 8.0 when partial extraction in Standard Method is used. The averages and ranges of HPE(heavy metals extracted using partial extraction in Standard Method)/HPEM(heavy metals extracted using partial extraction method with maintaining 0.1 N of extraction solution) values are 0.479 and 0.145~0.929 for Cd, 0.534 and 0.078~0.928 for Zn, 0.432 and 0.041~0.992 for Mn, 0.359 and 0.011~0.874 for Cu, 0.150 and 0.018~0.530 for Cr, 0.219 and 0.003~0.853 for Pb, and 0.088 and 1.73${\times}$10$^{-5}$~0.303 for Fe. These data indicate that the difference between HPE and HPEM is large in the order of Fe, Cr, Pb, Cu, Mn, Cd and Zn. The amounts of heavy metals extracted decreases in the follow order; Sum III(sum of fraction I, II, III in sequential extraction)>HPEM>Sum III (sum of fraction I and II)>HPE for Zn, Cd and Mn and Sum III>HPEM>HPE for Cr and Fe. In the case Cr, Sum II is lower than HPEM and higher than HPE. In case of Cu, extracted heavy metals is large in the order Sum IV>HPEM>Sum III HPE. HPE/HPEM value decreases with increasing the amount of HCl used for maintaining 0.1 N of extraction solution. For samples with high buffer capacity, HPE/HPEM value in all elements is lower than 0.2. On the other hand, for samples with low buffer capacity, HPE/HPEM value are over 0.2 and many samples have values higher than 0.6 for Zn, Cd Mn and Cu due to the small difference between Sum II and Sum III, and relatively higher mobility. However, for Fe and Cr, HPE/HPEM value is below 0.2 even for samples with low buffer capacity due to their low mobility and big difference between Sum II and Sum III. This study indicates that the partial extraction method in Korean Standard Method of soil is not suitable for an assessment of soil contamination in area where buffer capacity of soil can be decreased or lost because of a long term exposure to environmental damage such as acidic rain.