• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.68-77
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• 2024

Airborne particulate matter (PM) is an environmentally hazardous pollutant that originates from various sources. PM is comprised of solid particles and liquid droplets of diverse composition and size. Hazardous chemical compositions of PM include elemental and organic carbon, organic compounds, biological compounds and metals. Upon acute and chronic PM exposure, toxic contaminants enter and accumulate within physiological systems and prompt cell structure changes accompanied with intracellular endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, inflammation, lipid accumulation, and cell cycle arrest. Ultimately, these cellular response leads to the development of key characteristics of aging. In addition, PM internalization enhances autophagy reflux and lysosomal dysfunction, which is involved in cell aging. Previous studies have emphasized a positive association between PM and increased mortality or decreased lifespan, although these are evidenced mostly by observational studies. Direct evidence of the link between PM and aging is still limited. This review evaluates the evidence from not only observational studies but also in vitro and in vivo evidence of PM on aging progression and age-related diseases development. This evidence is based on age-associated cellular changes including endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, inflammation, adipose accumulation, autophagy, which strengthen the association between PM exposure and aging. Understanding the underlying cellular responses under PM may allow for the development of new therapeutic targets for PM-induced aging.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.547-554
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• 2014

In this study, have researched 'a' index from three sound sources, effects on subject and finding optimal 'a' index, which can improve subject's stability, concentration and productivity. Check the health status of subjects who were selected 5 male and 5 female university students, and the period of this experiment was about two months. It were measured each subject's EEG, HRV and vibra image to analyze transition of stability, concentration, stress and heart beat. The results was measured in an environmental test room of temperature $25[^{\circ}C]$, the relative humidity 50 [%], illuminance 1,000 [lux] and air current speed 0.02[m/sec] with 'a' index of three sound sources which are a=1.106, a=1.749 and a=2.227. Results in a=1.106 compared to before exposure, relative $S{\alpha}$ wave, relative $L{\beta}$ wave and relative $M{\beta}$ wave have been revitalized, asymmetry index, stress and HRV have been decreased. Thus, to increase stability, concentration and productivity, also to decrease stress, changes in sound source of a=1.106 was found to be the most effective.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.3-12
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• 1980

Certain heavy metals which may lead peoples to poisonous status are widely used in industry and their uses have been increasing along with rapid industrialization of this country. Such an increasement of metal uses aggravates the status of environmental pollution affecting foodstuffs which are the most important life supporting factor of animal and humanbeing. Concerning the safety measures to minimize food-borne transmission of such hazardous metals, surveillance is the backbone of them and probably more so with a potential problem such as intoxication. Theoretically, this surveillance should include the determination of levels of heavy metal toxicants in foods, the determination of food consumption patterns and typical total diet, and the estimation of total load of the metal contaminant from all sources of exposure including air, water, and occupational sources. In recent year, actually, such estimates on the total daily intake of some heavy metals from foods have been made in several developed countries and a wide variation of date by season, locality, and research method was recognized. Also in this country, this kind of research data is vitally needed to make up for the serious shortage or lack of references to estimate the total amount of heavy metal intake of the people. In this study, a modification model for estimation of the total daily intake of cadmium copper, nickel, zinc, and lead through foods was applied and concentrations of the above metals in crops cultivated in this country were measured with atomic absorption spectro photometer to get the following results. 1. Level of heavy metal concentration in crops Generally, the levels of such metals in essential crops such as rice, cucumber, radish. chinese cabbage, apple, pear, grape, and orange are similar or lower than those in Japan and other developed countries. By the way, a striking result on cadmium concentration was increasement of its concentration in rice from $0{\sim}0.035ppm$ in 1970 to 0.11ppm in this study. However, the value is still far below the. Japanese Permissible Lebel of 1.0ppm. 2. Estimation of total daily intake per capita from foods A new model for estimation was devised utilizing levels of metal concentration in foods, amount of food consumed, and other food factors. Based on the above method, the daily intake of cadmium was estimated to be $70.53{\mu}g/man/day$ in average which was as high as the Limit Value of ILO/WHO(up to $71.4{\mu}g/man/day$). Also, 3.89mg of Zinc, 1.65mg of cuppor, 0.32mg of lead were given as the total daily intake per capita by this research. 3. Efficacy of washing or skinning to decrease the amount of metals in crops After washing the crops sufficiently with commercial linear alkylate sulfonate, the concentration of heavy metals could be reduced to $50{\sim}80%$ showing decreasement rate of $20{\sim}50%$. Also, after skinning the fruits, decreasement rate of the heavy metal concentration shelved $0{\sim}50%$.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2012

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiologic characteristics of adult patients with carbon monoxide poisoning who presented to the emergency department in recent years. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study on adult consecutive patients with carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning who presented to the emergency department of a tertiary care university-affiliated hospital from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2011. Results: A total of 91 patients were included in this study; there were 56(61.5%) unintentional and 35(38.5%) intentional poisonings. For the unintentional CO poisonings, the principal sources of exposure to CO were fire (39.3%), charcoal (17.9%), briquette charcoal (7.1%), wood burning boiler (7.1%), gas boiler (5.4%), automobile heater (3.6%), briquette boiler (3.6%), firewood (3.6%), and other items (12.5%). For the intentional CO poisonings, the sources were ignition charcoal (60.0%), briquette (31.4%), charcoal (5.7%) and butane gas (2.9%). For the unintentional CO poisonings, the places of poisoning were the home (58.9%), workplace (10.7%), public accommodation (8.9%), tent (8.9%), automobile (3.6%) and parking place (1.8%). For the intentional CO poisonings, the places of poisoning were the home (77.1%), public accommodation (11.4%) and automobile (11.4%). The proportion of intentional CO poisonings among total poisonings has increased significantly in recent years; 0.0% in 2008, 3.3% in 2009, 5.5% in 2010, and 29.7% in 2011. Conclusion: This study showed that in recent years in Korea, the source of CO has diversified broadly and intentional CO poisonings from burning ignition charcoal or briquettes has increased. Prevention efforts should consider these factors.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.875-882
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• 2015

In 2013, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that outdoor air pollution is carcinogenic to humans, with the particulate matter component of air pollution most closely associated with sufficient evidence of increased cancer incidence by exposure to particulate matter component of air pollution. Motor vehicles are one of a major emission sources of fine particle ($PM_{2.5}$) in urban areas. A large number of epidemiological studies have reported a positive association of morbidity or mortality with distance from the roadside. We conducted this study to assess the association of $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations measured at roadside hotspots with those at adjacent residential sites using real-time $PM_{2.5}$ monitors. We conducted real-time $PM_{2.5}$ measurements for rush hour periods (08:00~10:00 and 18:00~20:00) at 9 roadside air monitoring Hotspot sites in metropolitan Seoul over 3 weeks from October 1 to 21, 2013. Simultaneous measurements were conducted in residential sites within a 100 m radius from each roadside air monitoring site. A SidePak AM510 was used for the real-time $PM_{2.5}$ measurements. Medians of roadside $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations ranged from $9.8{\mu}g/m^3$ to $38.3{\mu}g/m^3$, while corresponding median values at adjacent residential sites ranged from $4.4{\mu}g/m^3$ to $37.3{\mu}g/m^3$. $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations of residential sites were 0.97 times of hotspot roadside sites. Distributions of $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations in roadside and residential areas were also very similar. Real-time $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations at residential sites, (100 m adjacent), showed similar levels to those at roadside sites. Increasing the distance between roadside and residential sites, if needed, should be considered to protect urban resident populations from $PM_{2.5}$ emitted by traffic related sources.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.413-418
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• 1985

Tobacco plant(8-leaf seedlings) were grown on water culture fertilized with different N sources ($NO_3-N$, $NH_4-N$, $NO_3+NH_4-N$) during 15 days. Daily uptake of nutrients and inorganic constituents in plants were investigated in relation to growth responses of them. 1. Nitrate-fed plant showed higher daily uptake of inorganic cations than those in other treatments, and reached about two times higher uptake of nitrogen and three times more uptake of cations (K, Ca, Mg). Potassium was preferentially uptaken at a very fast rate from the beginning after treatment. Also $NO_3-N$ tended to be taken up selectively by the plant from the mixture of nitrate and $NH_4-N$. 2. The initial pH (pH 6.0) of culture medium drastically changed into acid (pH 4.0) in the $NH_4-N$ medium, but into slightly higher (pH 6.4) in the nitrate when measured after exposure of 24 hours. The mixture also tended to show an acidity but much weaker than $NH_4-N$ solution. 3. Nitrate-fed plant had a normal growth pattern but $NH_4-N$ fed plant almost stopped growing. Those plants containing both nitrate and ammonium N were also showed very poor growth.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.141-146
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• 2019

Radiation sources used in the field of industrial non-destructive pose a risk of exposure due to ageing equipment and operator carelessness. Thus, the need for a safety management system to trace the location of the source is being added. In this study, Monte Carlo Simulation was performed to analyse the angle dependence of the unit-cell comprising the line-array dosimeter for tracking the location of radiation sources. As a result, the margin of error for the top 10% of each slope was 5.90% at $0^{\circ}$, 8.08% at $30^{\circ}$, and 20.90% at $60^{\circ}$. The ratio of the total absorbed dose was 83.77% at $30^{\circ}$ and 53.36% at $60^{\circ}$ based on $0^{\circ}$(100%) and showed a tendency to decrease with increasing slope. For all gradients, the maximum number was shown at $30^{\circ}$ No. 9 pixels, and for No. 10, there was a tendency to drop 7.24 percent. This study has shown a large amount of angle dependence, and it is estimated that the proper distance between the source and line-array dosimeters should be maintained at a distance of not less than 1 cm to reduce them.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.488-496
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• 2017

Emissions of pollutants from ship-based sources are controlled by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Since pollutants emitted from ship may be dispersed to the land, controlling emissions from ships is necessary for efficient air quality management in Incheon, where exposure to ship-based pollution is frequent. It has been noted that the ratios of air pollutant emissions from coastal areas to inland areas are about 14% for NOx and 10% for SOx. The air quality of coastal urban areas is influenced by the number of ships present and the dispersion pattern of the pollutants released depending on the local circulation system. In this study, the dispersion of pollutants from ship-based sources was analyzed using the numerical California Puff Model (CALPUFF) based on a meteorological field established using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). Air pollutant dispersion modeling around coastal urban regions such as Incheon should consider point and line sources emitted from both anchored and running ships, respectively. The total average NOx emissions from 82-84 ships were 6.2 g/s and 6.8 g/s, entering and leaving, respectively. The total average SOx emissions from 82-84 ships, entering and leaving, were 3.6 g/s and 5.1 g/s, respectively. The total average emissions for NOx and SOx from anchored ships were 0.77 g/s and 1.93 g/s, respectively. Due to the influence of breezes from over land, the transport of pollutants from Incheon Port to inland areas was suppressed, and the concentration of NOx and SOx inland were temporarily reduced. NOx and SOx were diffused inland by the sea breeze, and the concentration of NOx and SOx gradually increased inland. The concentration of pollutants in the area adjacent to Incheon Port was more influenced by anchored ship in the port than sea breezes. We expect this study to be useful for setting emission standards and devising air quality policies in coastal urban regions.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.121-130
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• 2008

Methamphetamine, a commonly used addictive drug, is a powerful addictive stimulant that dramatically affects the CNS. Repeated METH administration leads to a rewarding effect in a state of addiction that includes sensitization, dependence, and other phenomena. It is well known that susceptibility to the development of addiction is influenced by sources of reinforcement, variable neuroadaptive mechanisms, and neurochemical changes that together lead to altered homeostasis of the brain reward system. These behavioral abnormalities reflect neuroadaptive changes in signal transduction function and cellular gene expression produced by repeated drug exposure. To provide a better understanding of addiction and the mechanism of the rewarding effect, it is important to identify related genes. In the present study, we performed gene expression profiling using microarray analysis in a reward effect animal model. We also investigated gene expression in four important regions of the brain, the nucleus accumbens, striatum, hippocampus, and cingulated cortex, and analyzed the data by two clustering methods. Genes related to signaling pathways including G-protein-coupled receptor-related pathways predominated among the identified genes. The genes identified in our study may contribute to the development of a gene modeling network for methamphetamine addiction.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.541-546
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to evaluate ecosystem health effect in the physiological levels, based on ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and total oxyradical scavenging capacity (TOSC) assays using sentinel fish species. We collected fish samples of Zacco platypus in May 2008 from 3 sampling sites including upstream, midstream, and downstream of the Gap Stream. EROD activity was averaged 4.54 in the downstream, 2.7 fold higher than upstream and indicated that stream condition was degraded along with longitudinal gradient from up to downstream. Downstream, especially was significantly increased (p < 0.01) so that indicated various pollutants including nutrient enrichment and toxicant exposure from the point sources, wastewater treatment plant and industrial complex may impact to the stream condition. In the mean time, TOSC assays showed higher in the midstream than other sites, but the values were not significant, compared to the previous report on oxidative stress. Overall results indicated that our approaches applying two biomarkers can be effectively used for diagnosis of the physiological levels in an integrative stream health assessments and can be applied as useful pre-warning techniques as a biochemical alarm system of organic pollutions.