• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.616-625
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• 2017

Measurements using five real-time particle samplers were compared to measurements using three NRM (National Reference Method system) filter-based samplers(Gravimetric method) at Incheon, Korea, between May and August, 2014. The purpose of this study was to suggest the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) method of each instrument for use in a real-time continuous particle sampler to measure the mass of airborne particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than $2.5{\mu}m$ ($PM_{2.5}$). Five real-time particle samplers of BAM1020, FH62C_14, TEOM, PM-711 and SPM-613 were evaluated by comparing its measured 23 hr average $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations with those measured with NRM filter-based samplers simultaneously. The parameters(e.g. Inlet heating condition, Slope factor, Film response, Intercept, Background, Span value) of the real-time samplers were optimized respectively by conducting test performance evaluation during 7 days in field sampling. For example, inlet heating temperature of TEOM sampler controls $35{\sim}40^{\circ}C$ to minimize the fluctuation of the real-time measurement data and background value of BAM1020 is the key factor affecting the accuracy of $PM_{2.5}$ mass concentration. We classified the $PM_{2.5}$ concentration according to relative humidity (80%) to identify water absorbed in aerosols by measuring the ${\beta}$-ray samplers(BAM1020, FH62C_14) and TEOM. ${\beta}$-ray samplers were not strongly affected by relative humidity that the difference of the average $PM_{2.5}$ concentration was about 5%. On the other hand, The TEOM sampler overestimated $PM_{2.5}$ mass concentration about 15% at low relative humidity (<80%).

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.1
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• pp.50-61
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• 2020

Street trees are very important to urban environments as they can alleviate air pollution. However, when ozone is absorbed through the stomata, it can induce the formation of free radicals inside the tree, negatively affecting the vegetation. The present study investigated the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) of four major street tree species: Prunus yedoensis, Zelkova serrata, Chionanthus retusus, and Pinus densiflora. Two-year-old seedlings were placed in a phytotron and fumigated with 100 nL·L^-1 (ppb) ozone for 4 weeks, following which the ascorbic acid contents, chlorophyll contents, leaf pHs, and relative water contents were measured. There was no significant difference in the APTI of Prunus yedoensis and Zelkova serrata between the ozone and control treatments. By contrast, the ozone treatment caused the APTI of Chionanthus retusus to increase and that of Pinus densiflora to decrease compared with the respective controls. These results suggest that the APTI of these tree species exhibit very different responses to ozone. Therefore, more detailed research should be conducted on a range of species in the future.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.202-208
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• 1999

Schizophrenia has many clinical expressions and probably different etiologic factors. Infections, autoimmune mechanism and related neurodevelopmental abnormalities have been suggested as possible etiologic factors of schizophrenia. It has been reported that immunoreactivity to heat shock proteins, which play a protective role against environmental stresses in a cell, might be related to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Therefore, we examined the immunoreactivity to heat shock protein 70kDa and 90kDa(HSP70 and 90) in 91 patients with schizophrenia and 83 normal controls. Ig G antibodies to HSP70 and 90 of sera were quantitated by ELISA. The optical density(OD) was measured by an automated microplate reader at a wavelength of 490nm. The amounts of antibodies to HSPs were expressed as arbitrary units(AU)/ml related to a standard serum. The limit for elevated antibody titers(anti-HSPs positive or negative) was set at two standard deviations added to the mean of the normal controls. Twenty nine(31.9%) of the 91 patients showed anti-HSP70 positive and 19(20.9%) of those showed anti-HSP90 positive. On the other hand, only 1(1.4%) of the normal controls and 4(4.8%) of those showed anti-HSP70 positive and anti-HSP90 positive, respectively. The titers of anti-HSP70 positive were related with BPRS scores, while those of anti-HSP90 positive were not. There were no relationship between antibody titers and clinical variables including age at onset, duration of illness, family history of schizophrenia or number of admission. The titers of anti-HSP70 positive were significantly associated with anti-HSP90 positive. Our results suggest the presence of abnormal immune reactivity involving HSP70 and HSP90 in a subset of patients with schizophrenia.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.4 s.114
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• pp.445-453
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• 2005

Relative importance between bottom-up and top-down controls on phytoplankton dynamics was investigated in the Juam Reservoir, Chonnam based on the results from statistical analyses including regression and artificial neural network (ANN) modeling. Effects of nutrients on size-structured phytoplankton dynamics were explored by simple linear regression analysis and relative importance between bottom-up and top-down controls was estimated based on results from the artificial neural network analyses. Although there is a limitation in determining direct grazing effects since chlorophyll a : pheopigments ratios, indirect index for grazing activity rather than grazing rates or herbivores biomass were used, the results from regression analysis showed that nutrients especially orthophosphates were positively correlated with the phytoplankton biomass and chlorophyll a : pheopigments ratios were also positively correlated with the phytoplankton biomass at lower coefficient of determination ($r^2$) compared to orthophosphates. The simulation results from ANN suggested that the bottom-up mechanisms including water temperature and availability of nutrients, especially orthophosphates were more important than top-down mechanisms such as grazing in the phytoplankton dynamics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.235-244
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• 2007

By comparing the proteins from the workers exposed to styrene with the ones from controls, it may be possible to identify proteins that play a role in the occurrence and progress of occupational disease and thus to study the molecular mechanisms of occupational disease. In order to find the biomarkers for assessing the styrene effects early, before clinical symptoms develop and to understand the mechanisms of adverse health effects, we surveyed 134 employees, among whom 52 workers(30 male and 22 female) were chronically exposed to styrene in 10 glass-reinforced plastic boat manufacturing factories in Korea and 82 controls had never been occupationally exposed to hazardous chemicals including styrene. The age and drinking habits and serum biochemistry such as total protein, BUN and serum creatinine in both groups were significantly different. Exposed workers were divided into three groups according to exposure levels of styrene(G1, below 1/2 TLV; G2, 1/2 TLV to TLV; G3, above TLV). The mean concentration of airborne styrene in G1 group was $10.93{\pm}11.33ppm$, and those of urinary mandelic acid(MA) and phenylglyoxylic acid(PGA) were $0.17{\pm}0.21$ and $0.13{\pm}0.11g/g$ creatinine, respectively. The mean concentration of airborne styrene in G2 and G3 groups were $47.54{\pm}22.43$ and $65.33{\pm}33.47ppm$, respectively, and levels of urinary metabolites such as MA and PGA increased considerably as expected with the increase in exposure level of styrene. The airborne styrene concentration were significantly correlated to the urinary concentration of MA(r=0.784, p=0.000) and PGA(r=0.626, p<0.001). In the 2D electrophoresis, the concentration of five proteins including complement C3 precursor, alpha-1-antitrypsin(AAT), vitamin D binding protein precursor(DBP), alpha-1-B-glycoprotein(A1BG) and inter alpha trypsin inhibitor(ITI) heavy chain-related protein were significantly altered in workers exposed to styrene compared with controls. While expression of complement C3 precursor and AAT increased by exposure to styrene, expression of DBP, A1BG and ITI heavy chain-related protein decreased. These results suggest that the exposure of styrene might affects levels of plasma proteinase, carriers of endogenous substances and immune system. In particular, increasing of AAT with the increase in exposure level of styrene can explain the tissue damage and inflammation by the imbalance of proteinase/antiproteinase and decrease of DBP, A1BG and ITI heavy chain-related protein in workers exposed to styrene is associated with dysfunction and/or declination in immune system and signal transduction

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.47-47
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• 2010

Over the past 20 years, constant progress in noise and vibration (NVH) engineering has enabled to constantly advance quality and comfort of operation and use of really any products - from automobiles to aircraft, to all kinds of industrial vehicles and machines - to the extend that for many products, supreme NVH performance has becomes part of its brand image in the market. At the same time, the product innovation agenda in the automotive, aircraft and really many other industries, has been extended very much in recent years by meeting ever more strict environmental regulations. Like in the automotive industry, the drive towards meeting emission and CO2 targets leads to very much accelerated adoption of new powertrain concepts (downsizing of ICE, hybrid-electrical...), and to new vehicle architectures and the application of new materials to reduce weight, which bring new challenges for not only maintaining but further improving NVH performance. This drives for innovation in NVH engineering, so as to succeed in meeting a product brand performance for NVH, while as the same time satisfying eco-constraints. Product innovation has also become increasingly dependent on the adoption of electronics and software, which drives for new solutions for NVH engineering that can be applied for NVH performance optimization of mechatronic products. Finally, relentless pressure to shorten time to market while maintaining overall product quality and reliability, mandates that the practice and solutions for NVH engineering can be optimally applied in all phases of product development. The presentation will first review the afore trends for product and process innovation, and discuss the challenges they represent for NVH engineering. Next, the presentation discusses new solutions for NVH engineering of products, so as to meet target brand values, while at the same time meeting ever more strict eco constraints, and this within a context of increasing adoption of electronics and controls to drive product innovation. NVH being very much defined by system level performance, these solutions implement the approach of "Model Based System Engineering" to increase the impact of system level analysis for NVH in all phases of product development: - At the Concept Phase, to be able to do business case analysis of new product concepts; to arrive at an optimized and robust product architecture (e.g. to hybrid powertrain lay-out, to optimize fuel economy); to enable target cascading, to subsystem and component level. - In Development Phase, to increase realism and productivity of simulation, so as to frontload virtual validation of components and subsystems and to further reduce reliance on physical testing. - During the final System Testing Phase, to enable subsystem testing by a combination of physical testing and simulation: using simulation models to simulate the final integration context when testing a subsystem, enabling to frontload subsystem testing before final system integration is possible. - To interconnect Mechanical, Electronical and Controls engineering, in all phases of development, by supporting model driven controls engineering (MIL, SIL, HIL). Finally, the presentation reviews examples of how LMS is implementing such new applications for NVH engineering with lead customers in Europe, Asia and US, with demonstrated benefits both in terms of shortening development cycles, and/or enabling a simulation based approach to reduce reliance on physical testing.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.109-112
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• 2008

The G184C and G134A single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) of the CYP1A1 gene result in Ala62Pro and Gly45Asp substitutions, respectively. Here, we tested whether these SNPs are associated with an alteration in lung cancer incidence. We examined 80 Korean subjects with lung cancer and 240 age- and sex-matched controls. For each subject, the CYP1A1 gene was PCR amplified and sequenced. We observed that the odds ratio(OR) for lung cancer was 3.37 higher in subjects with the G184C polymorphism than in controls(95% confidence interval(CI), $0.89{\sim}12.73$, P=0.07). In contrast, the OR for lung cancer was 1.23 in subjects with the G134A polymorphism compared to controls(95% CI, $0.68{\sim}2.20$, P=0.49). The G184C polymorphism exacerbated the effects of smoking on lung cancer development. Gene-smoking interaction analyses revealed that past or present smokers with the G184C polymorphism had a higher incidence of lung cancer(OR, 24.72; 95% CI, $4.48{\sim}136.31$; P<0.01) than control smokers(OR, 6.65; 95% CI, $2.72{\sim}16.28$; P<0.01). However, there was only a slight difference in the ORs for lung cancer between control smokers and smokers with the G134A polymorphism. These findings suggest that the G184C polymorphism, but not the G134A polymorphism, is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.258-265
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• 2001

Objectives : Chronic alcohol consumption has been known to result in various neurocognitive deficits. Many neuropsychological studies revealed that the major disturbances occurred in the executive function, learning and short-term memory, visuospatial performance function, perceptuo-motor skills, and abstraction and problem solving abilities. This study was done to identify which cognitive areas might be mainly affected. Methods : The cognitive disturbance was evaluated using the Korean Version of the Mini Mental State Examination(MMSEK) and the 7 Minute Screen(7MS) in male inpatients with alcohol dependence(N=3 : as well as in age and education level matched healthy male controls(N=30). Four individual tests of the 7MS were consisted of the Benton Temporal Orientation Test, the Enhanced Cued Recall, the Clock Drawing and the Category Fluency. Results : 1) The average scores of four individual test of the 7MS for the alcoholics were $2.77{\pm}4.38$ for the Benton Temporal Orientation Test, $13.90{\pm}2.02$ for the Memory Test(the Cued Recall $6.77{\pm}1.94$, the Uncued Recall $7.10{\pm}2.45$), $5.84{\pm}1.86$ for the Clock Drawing, and $12.58{\pm}3.29$ for the Category Fluency. Except the Benton Temporal Orientation Test, there were statistically significant differences between test scores of alcoholics and those of controls(p<0.01). 2) The alcoholics who had MMSE-K score <24 were 9.68%. The average(${\pm}S.D.$) score of the MMSE-K for the patient group($27.23{\pm}2.62$) was significantly(p<0.001) lower than that of the healthy controls($29.20{\pm}1.24$). There were no statistically significant differences between four individual test scores of the 7MS of alcoholics with the MMSE-K score <24(N=3) and those of alcoholics with the MMSE-K score ${\geq}24$(N=28). 3) Four individual test scores of the 7MS seemed to have statistically significant association with such variables as MMSE-K, duration of alcohol drinking, blood magnesium concentration, liver function and thyroid function. Conclusion : Mild deficits of cognitive areas such as orientation, memory, visuospatial abilities and verbal fluency could be found in alcohol dependence.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.729-737
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• 2014

A study has been carried out that effectively controls the vibration of asymmetric cable-stayed bridges caused by earthquakes with MR dampers. In order to enhance the practical serviceability of MR dampers, an asymmetric cable-stayed bridge structure has been designed and produced, and a MR damper has been produced so as to have this bridge structure controlled appropriately. An experiment that controls vertical and horizontal vibrations has been carried out by exciting the asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the horizontal direction with the El-centro seismic wave. The control performance of the MR damper has been evaluated under the five control conditions in the experiments of vibration control in each direction. As a result of the experiment, MR dampers were proved to control vibrations more effectively when either Lyapunov control algorithm or Clipped-optimal control algorithm was used to control vibrations of the asymmetric cable-stayed bridge caused by earthquakes. In addition, different controlling effects were found in vibration controls in vertical and horizontal directions due to the asymmetry of the structure and the horizontal excitation. With such controlling effects, semi-active MR dampers are evaluated to effectively control vibrations caused by earthquakes in flexible and asymmetric structures such as asymmetric cable-stayed bridges.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.279-287
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• 2007

Copper (Cu) is an essential trace element indispensable for brain development and function; either excess or deficiency in Cu can cause brain malfunction. While it is known that Cu and Fe homeostasis are strictly regulated in the brain, the question as to how systemic Fe status may influence brain Cu distribution was poorly understood. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that dietary Fe condition affects Cu transport into the brain, leading to an altered brain distribution of Cu. Rats were divided into 3 groups; an Fe-deficient (Fe-D) group which received an Fe-D diet ($3{\sim}5 mg$ Fe/kg), a control group that was fed with normal diet (35mg Fe/kg), and an Fe-overload group whose diet contained an Fe-O diet (20g carbonyl Fe/kg). Following a 4-week treatment, the concentration of Cu/Fe in serum, CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) and brain were determined by AAS, and the uptake rates of Cu into choroids plexus (CP), CSF, brain capillary and parenchyma were determined by an in situ brain perfusion, followed by capillary depletion. In Fe-D and Fe-O, serum Fe level decreased by 91% (p<0.01) and increased by 131% (p<0.01), respectively, in comparison to controls. Fe concentrations in all brain regions tested (frontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus, mid brain, and cerebellum) were lower than those of controls in Fe-D rats (p<0.05), but not changed in Fe-O rats. In Fe-D animals, serum and CSF Cu were not affected, while brain Cu levels in all tested regions (frontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus, mid brain, and cerebellum) were significantly increased (p<0.05). Likewise, the unidirectional transport rate constants $(K_{in})$ of Cu in CP, CSF, brain capillary and parenchyma were significantly increased (p<0.05) in the Fe-D rats. In contrast, with Fe-O, serum, CSF and brain Cu concentrations were significantly decreased as compared to controls (p<0.05). Cu transport was no significant change of Cu transport of serum in Fe-O rats. The mRNA levels of five Cu-related transporters were not affected by Fe status except DMT1 in the CP, which was increased in Fe-D and decreased in Fe-O. Our data suggest that Cu transport into brain and ensuing brain Cu levels are regulated by systemic Fe status. Fe deficiency appears to augment Cu transport by brain barriers, leading to an accumulation of Cu in brain parenchyma.