• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.433-438
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• 2004

Stress response to the seawater acclimation in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolt was investigated. Salt concentration of rearing water was gradually increased for 3 days from freshwater to seawater (30 ppt salt level). The changes of serum concentrations of cortisol as a primary stress indicator, and as secondary indicators, glucose (GLC), lactate (LAC), triglyce.ide (TG), cholesterol (CHOL), sodium ion $(Na^+)$, chloride ion $(Cl^-)$ and enzyme activities (alanine aminotransferase, ALT: aspartate aminotrasferase, AST; lactate dehydrogenase, LDH) were quantified during the acclimation experiment. Among them, cortisol, LAC, TG, CHOL, ALT, AST concentrations showed rapid increase at the first exposure to the 10ppt salt level (day 1), and began to decrease to the constant values after day 2 of adaptation at 20ppt salt level. However, LDH concentration tended to decrease during the whole experimental period. $Na^+\;and\;Cl^-$ showed slight decrease at day 1, and increased to a little bit higher values after day 2 rather than those in freshwater. All the fishes started on taking a food after day 4 of seawater adaptation. From these results, to reduce osmotic shock inducible stress to fish in seawater acclimation, gradual increase of salt levels is recommended.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.677-693
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• 2013

IPCC showed that calculation of climate vulnerability index requires standardization process of various proxy variables for the estimation of climate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. In this study, four different methodologies of standardization methods: Z-score, Rescaling, Ranking, and Distance to the reference country, are employed to evaluate climate vulnerability-VRI (Vulnerability-Resilience Indicator) over Korean peninsula, and the error ranges of VRI, arising from employing the different standardization are estimated. All of proxy variables are provided by CCGIS (Climate Change adaptation toolkit based on GIS) which hosts information on both past and current socio-economic data and climate and environmental IPCC SRES (A2, B1, A1B, A1T, A1FI, and A1 scenarios) climate data for the decades of 2000s, 2020s, 2050s, and 2100s. The results showed that Z-score and Rescaling methods showed statistically undistinguishable results with minor differences of spatial distribution, while Ranking and Distance to the reference country methods showed some possibility to lead the different ranking of VRI among South Korean provinces, depending on the local characteristics and reference province. The resultant VRIs calculated from different standardization methods showed Cronbach's alpha of more than 0.84, indicating that all of different methodologies were overall consistent. Similar horizontal distributions were shown with the same trends: VRI increases as province is close to the coastal region and/or it close toward lower latitude, and decreases as it is close to urbanization area. Other characteristics of the four different standardization are discussed in this study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8617-8622
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• 2014

The goal of this study was to establish paclitaxel resistant MCF-7 cells, as in vitro model, to identify the molecular mechanisms leading to acquired chemoresistance in breast cancer cells. Resistant cells were developed by stepwise increasing exposure to paclitaxel. Gene expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 along with protein levels of caspase-8 and caspase-9 were evaluated in two resistant cell lines (MCF-7/Pac64 and MCF-7/Pac5 nM). Morphological modifications in paclitaxel resistance cells were examined by light microscopy and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). As an important indicator of resistance to chemotheraputic agents, the Bcl-2/Bax ratio showed a significant increase in both MCF-7/Pac5nM and MCF-7/Pac 64nM cells (p<0.001), while caspase-9 levels were decreased (p<0.001) and caspase-8 was increased (p<0.001). FACS analysis demonstrated that MCF-7/Pac64 cells were smaller than MCF-7 cells with no difference in their granularity. Our results support the idea that paclitaxel induces apoptosis in a mitochondrial-dependent manner. Identifying breast cancer patients with a higher Bcl-2/Bax ratio and caspase 9 level and then inhibiting the activity of these proteins may improve the efficacy of chemotheraputic agents.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.275-283
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• 2020

Fecal coliforms are indicator bacteria to evaluate fecal contamination and microbiological safety in environment water. To examine fecal coliforms by membrane filtration, 1% rosolic acid solution dissolved in sodium hydroxide(0.2 M) should be added to m-FC medium according to Korean standard method. To reduce the exposure of researchers to harmful chemicals and expenditure of unnecessary cost, we evaluated if the rosolic acid solution is required to detect fecal coliforms. For 113 samples collected from five intake sources of Seoul, 42 samples of six tributaries, and 11 samples of sewage, the number of fecal coliforms was compared in medium with or without the reagent. As a result, the number was higher in m-FC medium without the reagent, but there was not a statistically significant difference. In the water intake, m-FC medium without the reagent could be used to examine fecal coliforms except in July, August and in case of rainfall. When heterotrophic plate counts exceeded 1,000 CFU/filter, or during rainfall, there was an effect of background bacteria in two types of the medium. However, it was more appropriate to use m-FC medium with the reagent to suppress gram-positive bacteria that can grow on medium without the reagent. In the tributary and sewage samples, the effect of the background bacteria was low, allowing the use of medium without the reagent regardless rainfall. Thus, it is necessary to present in standard method that the addition of rosolic acid solution in m-FC medium can be selected according to the characteristics of samples.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.195-199
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• 2008

Objectives : Malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation by-product, has been widely used as an indicator of oxidative stress. Urinary 2-naphthol, a urinary PAH metabolite, is used as a marker of ambient particulate exposure and is associated with lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the stability and intra-individual variation associated with urinary MDA and 2-naphthol have not been thoroughly addressed. The objective of this study was to assess the stability and intra-individual variation associated with urinary MDA and 2-naphthol. Methods : Urine samples were collected from 10 healthy volunteers (mean age 34, range $27{\sim}42$ years old). Each sample was divided into three aliquots and stored under three different conditions. The levels of urinary MDA and 2-naphthol were analyzed 1) just after sampling, 2) after storage at room temperature ($21^{\circ}C$) for 16 hours, and 3) after storage in a $-20^{\circ}C$ freezer for 16 hours. In addition, an epidemiological study was conducted in 44 Chinese subjects over a period of 3 weeks. The urinary MDA and 2-naphthol were measured by HPLC three times. Results : There was no difference in the levels of urinary MDA and 2-naphthol between the triplicate measurements (n=10, p=0.84 and p=0.83, respectively). The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for urinary MDA and 2-naphthol were 0.74 and 0.42, respectively. However, the levels of PM2.5 in the air were well correlated with the levels of both MDA and 2-naphthol in the epidemiological study. Conclusions : These results suggest that urinary MDA and 2-naphthol remain stable under variable storage conditions, even at room temperature for 16 hours, and indicate that these markers can be used in epidemiological studies involving various sample storage conditions. The intra-CC of urinary 2-naphthol and MDA were acceptable for application to epidemiological studies.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.77-86
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• 2011

The unwanted artificial oil-spill has severely contaminated the coastal environment in the world. Level of contamination has so far been monitered by various indicator species including mussel, oysters, flounder, and cockle. In this study, we decided to use the oyster as a model organism to observe the morphological changes being exposed to the artificial oil-spill in the coastal areas in Taean, Korea. The oysters were collected from four local sites (Sindu-ri, Uiwang-ri, Jonghyeon-dong, Ansan and Uihang-ri) exposed to various levels of pollution after an oil spill in Taean. Microscopic analysis of the hepatopancreatic microstructure in the digestive gland from the collected oysters show that the swelling, whorl, and destruction phenomenon of the nuclear membrane, a well-known microstructure induced by heavy metal exposure, was observed. Nuclear body (Nb), another typical characteristic of contamination or infection were also observed in some samples. Necrosis was observed in tissue samples collected from the area with a high degree of oil pollution. In addition, parasite-like particles (virus, perkinsus) were observed in most samples. Taken together, these results suggest that oil contamination in the oyster habitats influences the cytopathological changes in Crassostrea gigas.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.474-478
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• 1999

Modulation of unscheduled DNA synthesis by dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) after exposure to various chemical carcinogens was investigated in the primary rat hepatocytes. Unscheduled DNA synthesis was induced by treatment of such direct acting carcinogens as methly methanesulfonate (MMS) and ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) or procarcinogens including benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA). Unscheduled DNA synthesis was determined by measuring [methyl-3H]thymidine radioactivity incorporated into nuclear DNA of hepatocytes treated with carcinogens in the presence or absence of DHEA. Hydroxyurea $(5{\times}10^{-3} M)$was added to growth medium to selectively suppress normal replication. DHEA at concentrations ranging from $(1{\times}10^{-6} M)$ to$(5{\times}10^{-4} M)$ did not significantly inhibit unscheduled DNA synthesis induced by either MMS $(1{\times}10^{-4} M)$ or EMS $(1{\times}10^{-2} M)$. In contrast, DHEA-significantly inhibited unscheduled DNA synthesis induced by BaP $(6.5{\times}10^{-5} M)$ and DMBA.$(2{\times}10^{-5} M)$. DHEA-induced hepatotoxicity in rats was examined using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release as an indicator of cytotoxicity. DHEA exhibit no significant increase in LDH release compared with the control at 18 h. These data suggest that nontoxic concentration of DHEA does not affect the DNA excision repair process, but it probably influence the enzymatic system responsible for the metabolic activation of procarcinogens and thereby decreases the amount of the effective DNA adducts formed by the ultimate reactive carcinogenic species.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.669-674
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the suitability of hydrogen peroxide($H_2O_2$) vapor system for platform interior decontamination. Geobacillus stearothermophilus biological indicator(BI) strips and a field tent were used as a biological simulant and as a simulated platform, respectively. Decontamination was performed based on injection rates and tent sizes with exposure time 60 minutes. We standardized the conditions for the field tent decontamination : 8.0 g/min for $30m^3$($H_2O_2$ vapor concentration of 150~500 ppm, relative humidity of 50 %) and 12.0 g/min for $60m^3$($H_2O_2$ vapor concentration of 250~400 ppm, relative humidity of 55 %). Thus we suggest the system is one of the possible candidates for decontamination of platform interiors.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.100-109
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on the injury of putative parvalbumin positive interneurons defined by molecular marker and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), a marker of neural plasticity following acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Methods: Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to 1100 ppm CO for 40 minutes followed by 3000 ppm CO for 20 minutes. Animals received daily intraperitoneal injection of NAC (150 mg/kg) for 5 days after CO exposure. Changes in learning and spatial memory were evaluated by Y-maze test 5 days after the poisoning. In vivo LTP in hippocampal CA1 area was evaluated by using extracellular electrophysiological technique. Immunohistochemical staining were adopted to observe expressional damages of parvalbumin (PV) immunoreactive interneurons in the hippocampus following the poisoning. Results: Acute CO intoxication resulted in no changes in memory performance at Y-maze test but a significant reduction of LTP in the in hippocampal CA1 area. There was also a significant reduction of PV (+) interneurons in the hippocampal CA1 area 5 days after CO poisoning. Daily treatment of NAC significantly improved hippocampal LTP impairment and reduced immunoreactivity for PV in the hippocampus following the acute CO poisoning. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that reduction of hippocampal LTP and PV (+) interneurons in the hippocampus is sensitive indicator for brain injury and daily NAC injections can be the alternative therapeutics for the injury induced by acute CO poisoning.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.331-341
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• 2021

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations and relationships of coarse particles with a diameter of 10 ㎛ (PM₁₀) with endotoxins according to the time of measurement in windowless poultry houses. Methods: In this study, measurement was performed on ten windowless poultry houses with a vertically integrated system from July to November. PM₁₀ was measured using personal environmental monitors and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filters with a 4 L/min-calibrated pump in selected sampling locations (two near the door and two near an exhaust fan). The endotoxin on PTFE filter was analyzed by the LAL turbidimetric method. Results: The range of geometric mean concentrations of PM₁₀ and endotoxins for each of the 38 samples were 0.12-3.30 mg/m³ and 11.9-3553.66 EU/m³, respectively. PM₁₀ and endotoxin concentrations varied by farm, increasing with the decrease in ventilation. The range of the coefficient of determination between PM₁₀ and endotoxin was 0.0009-0.9249. As the atmospheric temperature decreased, it was confirmed that the concentrations of PM₁₀ and endotoxin increased because the volume of ventilation was decreased. Conclusions: Endotoxins were more affected by time of measurement and ventilation than PM₁₀, which means that endotoxins could be an important indicator for intervention programs for improvement of indoor environments.