• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.408-417
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• 2013

Objectives: Phthalates are used as plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics. As phthalate plasticizers are not chemically bound to the PVC, they can leach, migrate or evaporate into indoor air and atmosphere, foodstuffs, other materials, etc. Therefore, humans are exposed through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure over their entire lifetime, including during intrauterine development. In particular, university students have a great number of opportunities to contact products including phthalates during campus life (food packaging, body care products, cosmetic, lotions, aftershave, perfume etc.). The purpose of this study was to examine levels of phthalate exposure as undergraduate students begin to use pharmaceuticals and personal care products including phthalates. Methods: Phthalate metabolites, mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), mono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP), mono-2- ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), {(mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP}, and mono-(2-ethlyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP} were examined. 80 urine samples collected from university students were analyzed using LC/MS/MS(API 4000, Applied Bioscience) with on-line enrichment and columnswitching techniques. This study was carried out at Y university located in Gyonggi Province from 2008 to 2011. Results: The detection limit of phthalate metabolites were 0.03 ng/mL for MEP, 0.11 ng/mL for MnBP, 0.08 ng/mL for MiBP, 0.93 ng/mL for MEHP, 0.19 ng/mL for MEOHP and 0.16ng/mL for MEHHP. MnBP showed the highest urinary levels (median: 31.6 ug/L, 24.8 ug/g creatinine (cr)). Concentrations were also high for MEHHP (median: 24.1 ug/L, 19.0 ug/g cr), followed by MEOHP (median: 22.8 ug/L, 17.9 ug/g cr). In individual cases, the maximum level reached up to 348 ug/L, and 291 ug/g cr, respectively. The urinary and creatinine adjusted levels of MEP were lower than those for DBP and DEHP metabolites, but were higher in 95th percentiles. As a result, the mean daily DEP intake value was 2.3 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day, 3.5 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day for DEHP and 4.9 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day for DBP. Conclusion: These students' phthalate exposure levels were below the international safe level set by the EU, but higher than the 2012 KFDA survey of the age group from 3 to 18.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.9D no.5
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• pp.915-924
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• 2002

Conventional Systems for parcel sorting consist of two sequences as loading the parcel into conveyor belt system and post-code input. Using bar code information, the parcels to be recorded and managed are recognized. This paper describes a 32 $\times$ 32 sized mini-block inspection to extract bar code Region of Interest (ROI) from the line Charged Coupled Device (CCD) camera capturing image of moving parcel at 2m/sec speed. Firstly, the Min-Max distribution of the mini-block has been applied to discard the background of parcel and region of conveying belts from the image. Secondly, the diagonal inspection has been used for the extraction of letters and bar code region. Five horizontal line scanning detects the number of edges and sizes and ROI has been acquired from the detection. The wrong detected area has been deleted by the comparison of group size from labeling processes. To correct excluded bar code region in mini-block processes and for analysis of bar code information, the extracted ROI 8 boundary points and decline distribution have been used with central axis line adjustment. The ROI extraction and central axis creation have become enable within 60～80msec, and the accuracy has been accomplished over 99.44 percentage.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.648-652
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• 2006

Objective : $^{99m}Tc$-dimercaptosuccinic acid(DMSA) scan is considered to be the most sensitive examination for detection of renal scars. However, because of its high radiation exposure to the kidney and its limited usefulness for patients with low grade vesicoureteral reflux(VUR), some authors have suggested that DMSA scans should be reserved primarily for children with VUR grade 3 and above. The aim of this study was to reevaluate the necessity of DMSA scans as a screening test in infants without reflux or with low grade reflux. Methods : In this retrospective study, 189 infants(mean age : 6.2 months) diagnosed as UTI were enrolled. Voiding cystourethrogram(VCUG), DMSA scan and renal ultrasonography were performed within 1 month of UTI. VUR grade was classified into three subgroups; low grade(grade 1-2), moderate grade(grade 3), and high grade(grade 4-5), respectively. Results : Renal defects were present in 67 of 189 infants, and 82 of the 378 renal units. The incidence of renal defects was significantly correlated with VUR grade(P<0.01); 28 percent without reflux, 38 percent with low grade, 53 percent with moderate grade, 100 percent with high grade, respectively. However, there was no significant differences in incidence of renal defects between the low grade and moderate grade group. Conclusion : In this study, renal defects were found in quite high percentages; 28 percent patients without reflux and 38 percent patients with low grade VUR, respectively. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the incidence of renal defects between the low grade and moderate grade groups. Therefore, DMSA scan should be performed for infants with UTI as a screening test regardless of the presence of VUR.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.342-350
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• 2008

This study was carried out to investigate the suitability of the pubertal assay and the enhanced TG 407 as methods for detection of endocrine-mediated effects. Thyroid function was also considered. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were gavaged daily with 0, 25, 50, 100 mg/kg metribuzin in corn oil during 30 days. The effects of metribuzin on thyroid gland, the genital organs and thyroid hormone were measured in male and female rats. Dose of metribuzin 50 mg/kg/day increased relative weight of testis, prostate, and seminal vesicle in male rats but relative weight of thyroid gland was not significantly different from control group. Dose of metribuzin 25 mg/kg/day decreased relative weight of thyroid gland in female rats. Another purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of endocrine-disruptors as like thyroid hormone in vitro. Luciferase activity was measured to detect reaction of test chemicals and thyroid hormone response elements in HeLaTRE cell. Dose of metribuzin from 1 to 1,000 nM increased to 106-122% of luciferase activity.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.197-206
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• 2006

The distribution of iridoviruses in five freshwater ornamental fishes, pearl gourami (Trichogaster leeri), dwarf gourami (Colisa lalia), silver gourami (Trichogaster microlepis), blue gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus sumatranus) and freshwater angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare), imported from Singapore was examined in 2004 and 2005. The presence of iridoviruses in 56 sample groups was determined using PCR technique and showed PCR positive in 11 sample groups. The proportion of fish infected by iridovirus was differed depending upon species; 31.8% (7/22) for pearl gourami, 18.2% (2/11) for dwarf gourami, 16.7% (1/6) for blue gourami, 9.1% (1/11) for silver gourami and 0% (0/6) for angelfish. In quantitative comparison of viral DNAs isolated from infected tissues, the DNA concentration of iridovirus in pearl gourami was higher than that in dwarf gourami. Although pearl gourami infected naturally by iridovirus showed 100% mortality in keeping experiment for 3 weeks, only 57% of those was positive in PCR. In the comparison of nucleotide sequences of the PstⅠ fragment known as the most variable genomic region, both iridoviruses isolated from pearl gourami and dwarf gourami showed identity more than 99% with infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV) isolated from mandarinfish (Siniperca chuatsi).

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.28-38
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• 2009

An extrapolation of residue data of seven commonly used pesticides namely bifenthrin, chlorothalonil, cypermethrin, diazinon, fenvalerate, phenthoate and procymidone on a total of 22 minor crops has been carried out in an experimental field trial. The pesticides were applied to 11 leafy-, 5 root- and 6 stem-crops grown in the experimental green-house and the crops and plants were randomly collected at 1, 3, 5, 7 days after application. The average recoveries of applied pesticides were ranged from 72.0 to 117.0% in leafy crops, from 81.3 to 105.0% in stem crops and from 70.1 to 108.1% in the root-crops. Limits of detection (LODs) were 0.005-0.1 mg/kg in the leafy crops and 0.001-0.005 mg/kg in both the stem & root crops. Based on the results of residual dissipation pattern and their morphology, all crops were classified into high and low residual groups. The results showed that it might be possible to extrapolate residual data of stem-crops to root-crops within the same group. Crops that have currently no registered pesticide for use, would be possible to use the pesticides which are already been registered for the similar crops.

• The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2014

Purpose: To evaluate the ultrasonographic findings of the elbows on group screening of middle school baseball players. Materials and Methods: Ninety-three players (age: 12-15, mean 13.5 years) of four middle school baseball team were evaluated with bilateral elbow ultrasonographies in the field regardless of elbow pain. Medial and anterolateral ultrasound examination of the both elbow were performed in the field to detect any abnormalities including medial epicondylar separation or fragmentation and capitellar osteochondritis dissecans respectively. We analyzed the relationship among elbow pain, physical findings and sonographic abnormalities and the differences of sonographic abnormalities between pitchers and fielders. Results: Thirty-six of 93 (39%) players had sonographic abnormalities of elbow in dominant arm, 30 with medial epicondylar apophyseal separation or fragmentation, 2 with osteochondritis dissecans, 4 with both lesions. Twenty-nine of 37 (78%) players with elbow pain had sonographic abnormalities. On physical examination, players with medial epicondylar abnormalities had medial epicondylar tenderness (59%) and pain on valgus stress test (52%), and 5 of 6 (83%) players with osteochondritis dissecans showed flexion contracture more than $5^{\circ}$. The incidence of medial epicondylar abnormalities between pitchers and fielders was statistically not significant but osteochondritis dissecans was more prevalent in pitchers (p<0.05). Conclusion: Elbow sonography is a simple and useful screening tool in the field and also effective for early detection of medial epicondylar abnormalities or osteochondritis dissecans that could be the main causes of elbow pain in adolescent baseball players.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.609-614
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• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of turmeric powder on jeung-pyun. Turmeric jeung-pyun containing 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% turmeric powder was prepared and the moisture, pH, sugar, color, texture, DPPH and sensory properties of the samples were measured. Moisture contents of jeung-pyun were 51.26~51.99% and there were significant differences among the samples(p<0.001). The L-values were significantly decreased with increasing turmeric powder content. The b-value was low in the control and there were significant differences among the samples(p<0.05). Texture profile analysis showed that there were no significant differences among the groups in hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness. The hardness was the lowest in the control group and increased with increasing turmeric powder content. The antioxidant activities as measured by DPPH increased with increasing turmeric powder content (p<0.001). In the sensory evaluation, 1% addition of turmeric powder showed the highest preference in terms of color, taste, flavor, texture and overall preference(p<0.001). As determined by this study, the addition of 1% turmeric powder was the most favorable method for making use of turmeric powder in the production of jueng-pyun.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7621-7628
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• 2013

Human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) status is an important prognostic factor in breast cancer. There is no globally accepted method for determining its status, and which method is most precise is still a matter of debate. We here analyzed HER2 mRNA expression by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and HER2 DNA amplification using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). In parallel, we performed a routine evaluation of HER2 protein by immunohistochemistry (IHC). To assess the accuracy of the RT-PCR and MLPA techniques, a combination of IHC and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used, substituting FISH when the results of IHC were ambiguous (2+) and for those IHC results that disagreed with MLPA and qRT-PCR, this approach being termed IHC-FISH. The IHC results for four samples were not compatible with the MLPA and qRT-PCR results; the MLPA and qRT-PCR results for these samples were confirmed by FISH. The correlations between IHC-FISH and qRT-PCR or MLPA were 0.945 and 0.973, respectively. The ASCO/CAP guideline IHC/FISH correlation with MLPA was (0.827) and with RT-PCR was (0.854). The correlations between the IHC results (0, 1+ as negative, and 3+ as positive) and qRT-PCR and MLPA techniques were 0.743 and 0.831, respectively. Given the shortcomings of IHC analysis and greater correlations between MLPA, qRT-PCR, and FISH methods than IHC analysis alone with each of these three methods, we propose that MLPA and real-time PCR are good alternatives to IHC. However a suitable cut-off point for qRTPCR is a prerequisite for determining the exact status of HER2.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 1995

To understand the molecular structure and pathogenesis mechanism of Korean garlic viruses, we have isolated cDNA clones for garlic viruses. The partial nucleotide sequences of 24 cDNA clones were determined and those of five clones containing poly(A) tail were compared with sequences of other plant viruses. One of these clones, V9, has a primary structure similar to the carlavirus group, suggesting that the clone V9 derived from a part of garlic latent virus (GLV). Northern blot analysis with the clone V9 as a probe demonstrated that GLV genome is 8.5 knt long and has a poly(A) tail. The clone V9 encodes coat protein (CP) of 33 kDa and nucleic acid binding protein of 10 kDa in different reading frame. The hexanucleotide motif, 5'-ACCUAA, which is conserved in the 3' noncoding region arid was proposed to be a cis-acting element involved in the production of negative strand genomic RNA was noticed. Complementary sequence to the hexanucleotide motif, 5'-TTAGGT, is also found in the positive strand of V9 RNA. The putative CP gene was cloned into the pRSET-A expression vector and expressed in E. coli BL21. The expressed recombinant V9CP protein was purified by $Ni^{2+}$ NTA affinity chromatography. The anti-V9CP antibody recognizes 34 kDa polypeptide which could be CP of GLV in infected garlic leaf extract. Immunoblot and Northern blot analysis of various cultivars shows wide occurrence of GLV in Korean garlic plants.