• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.988-994
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• 2014

The effluents of chemical and petroleum industries often contain non-biodegradable aromatic compounds, with phenol being one of the major organic pollutants present among a wide variety of highly toxic organic chemicals. Phenol is toxic upon ingestion, contact, or inhalation, and it is lethal to fish even at concentrations as low as 0.005 ppm. Phenol biodegradation has been studied in detail using bacterial strains. However, these microorganisms suffer from substrate inhibition at high concentrations of phenol, whereby growth is inhibited. A phenol-degrading bacterium, P21, was isolated from oil-contaminated soil. The phenotypic characteristics and a phylogenetic analysis indicated the close relationship of strain P21 to Rhodococcus pyridinovorans. Phenol biodegradation by strain P21 was studied under shaking condition. The optimal conditions for phenol biodegradation by strain P21 were 0.09% $KNO_3$, 0.1% $K_2HPO_4$, 0.3% $NaH_2PO_4$, 0.015% $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, 0.001% $FeSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, initial pH 9, and $20-30^{\circ}C$, respectively. When 1,000 ppm of phenol was added to the optimal medium, the strain P21 completely degraded it within two days. Rhodococcus pyridinovorans P21 could grow in up to 1,500 ppm of phenol as the sole carbon source in a batch culture, but it could not grow in a medium containing above 2,000 ppm. Moreover, strain P21 could utilize toxic compounds, such as toluene, xylene, and hexane, as a sole carbon source. However, no growth was detected on chloroform.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.542-550
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• 2003

Background : Synthetic glucocorticoids are widely used in many chronic inflammatory diseases because of their excellent anti-inflammatory activity. Enhancing the transcription of $I{\kappa}B$ and preventing activated NF-${\kappa}B$ from binding to ${\kappa}B$ sites are thought to be the underlying mechanisms. But these data are largely derived from in vitro studies using cell lines. In this study, after administrating a steroid to volunteers, we evaluated the effect on the NF-${\kappa}B$ system. Methods : Prednisolone(0.5mg/kg/d) was orally administered to 5 healthy volunteers for 7 days. Before and after the administration, we sampled their peripheral blood monocytes, and performed western blot analysis both with stimulation, using IL-$1{\beta}$, LPS, TNF, and without stimulation(baseline). We also performed EMSA after stimulation with LPS. Results : After ingestion of the steroid, baseline expressions of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ were increased in two of the subjects, while suppressed degradations of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ to stimulations were observed in all five. In addition, the binding capacity of NF-${\kappa}B$ after the administration was decreased. Conclusion : Steroid plays such roles as enhancing the transcription of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$, suppressing the DNA binding capacity of NF-${\kappa}B$, and suppressing the degradation of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.161-167
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: For the heavy metal cotamination sites, it is very important to estimate the human bioavailability quotients for heavy metals in paddy soils released from mine tailings, which is a major source of contamination in Korea, and to assess the human health risks of heavy metals. METHODS AND RESULTS: This experiment was carried out to investigate the human bioavailability quotient of the heavy metals in paddy soils below part of the closed metalliferous mine. For estimating the human bioavailability quotients for heavy metals, 30 paddy soils below part of the closed mine were collected, and analyzed for Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As using simple bioavailability extraction test(SBET). The quantities of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn and As extracted from paddy soils below part of the mine by using the SBET analysis were 28.1, 17.3, 34.1, 14.6 and 2.3% respectively. Specially, the maximum values of Cd, Pb and Zn were 73.3, 81.5 and 58.1% of human bioavailability quotient, respectively, and varied considerably among the sampling sites. The human bioavailability quotient of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils near the closed mine showed significant positive correlation among soil pH value, O.M. and Ex. Ca. contents, while it correlated negatively between soil Ex. K and Ex. Mg contents in paddy soils. Also, its of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in paddy soils showed significant positive correlation with 0.1M HCl extractable and total contents, while in soils, it correlated negatively with As content in soil near the closed mine. CONCLUSION: The results of the simple bioavailability extraction test (SBET) indicate that regular ingestion of soils by the local population could be closed a potential health threat due to long-term heavy metals exposure in these mine areas.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.111-130
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• 1993

Lead toxicity was evaluated in forty-five cats on a balanced diet, Treated with 0(control), 10, 100(low), 1, 000, 2, 000, and 4, 000(high) ppm of lead acetate orally on a body weight basis. The objectives were to establish toxic dosage level of leaf in cats, to characterize changes in behavior and clinical pathology, and to demonstrate what blood lead concentrations correlate with the known dosages of lead. Some high dose cats showed projectile vomiting, hyperactivity, and seizures. The growth rates did not appear to be altered in any of the dosed groups. Normal blood lead concentration in cats were lower than that of humans, dogs, and cattle. Blood lead concentrations of 3 to 20$\mu\textrm{g}$/100$m\ell$ could be termed a 'subclinical' range in the cat. Clinical lead toxicity in cats may have blood lead concentrations ranging 20 to 120$\mu\textrm{g}$/100$m\ell$. Zinc protoporphyrin concentrations were proportional to lead dosages and a significant ZPP elevation, greater than 50$\mu\textrm{g}$/100$m\ell$, may be indicative of clinical lead toxicity. The enzyme aminolevulinic acid dehydratase showed an inverss dose response relationship for all lead dosages and a significant ZPP elevation, greater than 50$\mu\textrm{g}$/100$m\ell$, may be indicative of clinical lead toxicity. The enzyme aminolevulinic acid dehydratase showed an inverse dose response relationship for all lead dosages and appears to be a good indicator of lead exposure in cats. Urinary aminolevuliruc acid concentrations generally increased with lead dosage, but individual values varied. Hair lead concentrations rose proportionately to lead dosages. Lead at least in high doses appears to inhibit chemotactic activity of polymorphonuclear cells and monocytes. No consistent dose response relationships were observed in hemoglobin, RBC, WBC, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, and eosinophil counts. There were no consistent dose related changes in total protein, plasma protein, BUN, and ALT values. Reticulocyte counts did not increase significantly in most lead dosage levels, and are probably of little value in diagnosing lead toxicity in cats. The fact that no significant changes were found in nerve conduction velocities may support that there was no segmental demyelination resulting from lead ingestion. The lethal dose in cats appear to range from 60 to 150mg/kg body weight. A reliable diagnosis of lead poisoning can be made utilizing blood lead, ZPP, and ALAD, and hair lead.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 2006

A feeding trial was conducted to test the use of marine yeasts isolated from seawaters and sediments as a dietary source in cultivating a Cladocera, Moina macrocopa which is available as an alternative live food for fish larvae. The marine yeast-fed M. macrocopa had similar essential amino acid profiles to the documented values for Rotifers and Artemia enriched in microalgae and commercial diets. Erythrobacter sp. $S{\pi}-1$ lacked ${\omega}-3$ high unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs), $20:5{\omega}-3$ (EPA) and $22:6{\omega}-3$ (DHA), which were also poor but detected in both the marine yeasts. An increase in the $20:5{\omega}-3$ and $22:6{\omega}-3$ levels, compared with the levels in marine yeast strains themselves, was more pronounced in the $22:6{\omega}-3$ level of Moina fed the Candida sp. Y-16, resulting in a high DHA:EPA ratio. When the Moina diets were switched, their ${\delta}^{13}C$ values shifted gradually toward the values of the switched diets. Diet switch from Erythrobacter sp. $S{\pi}-1$to Candide sp. Y.16 resulted in a more rapid turnover of Moina tissue carbon than that in the inverse case. When fed a mixed diet, the ${\delta}^{13}C$ values of Moina tissue approached the value of marine yeasts immediately. These temporal changes in the ${\delta}^{13}C$ values of Moina tissue indicate the preferential ingestion of marine yeasts and a selective assimilation of the carbon originated from marine yeasts. These findings suggest that marine yeasts, particularly Candida sp. Y-16, are highly available to mass cultures of M. macrocopa, providing better nutritional and dietaty values than the commercial diet (Erythrobacter sp. $S{\pi}-1$).

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.157-169
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• 1990

This study was designed to investigate the effect of supplementation of fish oil on serum apoprotein and platelet function in healthy young females. Eighteen female college students were divided into 3 groups. Each group fed a typical Korean diet supplemented with 15g, 12g, and 9g of fish oil respectively for 1-week. Blood samples were obtained 4 times, before supplementation, immediately after, 1-week after and 3-week after stopping supplementation. After 6-week break, the doses of fish oil were interchanged among 3 groups and the experiment was repeated to reduce interindividual variation. The concentration of apoprotein A, apoprotein B in the serum samples and the platelet adhesion, the platelet aggregation and bleeding time were determined immediately after supplementation of fish oil, 1-week after and 3-week after stopping supplementation and then the value compared with those of before supplementation period. The results obtained are summarized as follows: Serum apoprotein A levels decreased significantly(p<0.05), immediately after supplementation of fish oil in the 15g group. The serum apoprotein B levels did not show significant change. The platelet adhesion decreased significantly(p<0.05) 1-week after supplementation of fish oil in the 15g group. The platelet aggregation decreased significantly(p<0.01) immedeately after supplementation of fish oil in the 15g group.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.874-882
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• 2017

As the interest on the air-pollution is gradually rising up at home and abroad, automotiv e and fuel researchers have been working on the exhaust emission reduction from vehicles through a lot of approaches, which consist of new engine design, innovative after-treatment systems, using clean (eco-friendly alternative) fuels and fuel quality improvement. This research has brought forward three main issues : evaporative, performance, air pollution. In addition, researcher studied the environment problems of the bio-ethanol, bio-butanol, bio-ETBE (Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether), MTBE (Methyl Tert iary Butyl Ether) fuel contained in the fuel as octane number improver. The researchers have many dat a about the health effects of ingestion of octane number improver. However, the data support the con clusion that octane number improver is a potential human carcinogen at high doses. Based on the bio-fuel and octane number improver types (bio-ethanol, bio-butanol, bio-ETBE, MTBE), this paper dis cussed the influence of gasoline fuel properties on the evaporative emission characteristics. Also, this p aper assessed the acceleration and power performance of gasoline vehicle for the bio-fuel property. As a result of the experiment, it was found that all the test fuels meet the domestic exhaust gas standards, and as a result of measurement of the vapor pressure of the test fuels, the bio - ethanol : 15 kPa and the biobutanol : 1.6 kPa. thus when manufacturing E3 fuel, Increasing the biobutanol content reduces evaporation gas and vapor pressure. In addition, Similar accelerating and powering performance was shown for the type of biofuel and when bio-butanol and bio-ethanol were compared accelerated perf ormance was improved by about 3.9% and vehicle power by 0.8%.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.152-168
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• 2019

The element arsenic, which is abundant in the Earth's crust, is used for various industrial purposes including materials for disease treatment and household goods. Various human activities, such as the disposal of soil waste, metal mining and smelting, and combustion of fossil fuels, have caused the pollution of the environment with arsenic. Recently, guidelines for arsenic in rice have been adopted by the Korean ministry of food and drug safety to prevent health risks based on rice consumption. Because of the exposure to arsenic and its accumulation in the human body through various channels, such as air inhalation, skin contact, ingestion of drinking water, and food consumption, integrated multimedia risk assessment is required to adopt appropriate risk management policies. Therefore, integrated human health risk assessment was carried out in this study using integrated exposure assessment based on multimedia (e.g., air, water, and soil) and multi-route (e.g., oral, inhalation, and dermal) scenarios. The results show that oral uptake via drinking water is the most common pathway of arsenic into the human body, accounting for 57%-96% of the total arsenic exposure. Among various age groups, the highest exposures to arsenic were observed in infants because the body weight of infants is low and the surface areas of infant bodies are large. Based on the results of the exposure assessment, the cancer and non-cancer risks were calculated. The cancer risk for CTE and RME is in the range of 2.3E-05 to 6.7E-05 and thus is negligible because it does not exceed the cancer probability of 1.0E-04 for all age groups. On the other hand, the cancer risk for RME varies from 6.4E-05 to 1.8E-04 and from 1.3E-04 to 1.8E-04 for infants and preschool children, exceeding the excess cancer risk of 1.0E-04. The non-cancer risks range from 5.4E-02 to 1.9E-01 and from 1.5E-01 to 6.8E-01, respectively. They do not exceed the hazard index 1 for all scenarios and all ages.

• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2019

The BOD removal efficiency according to HRT of the continuous inflow SBR process was decreased from 92.1 ~ 96.0% at HRT 9 ~ 15 h to 86.9 ~ 90.7% at HRT 6 h, but a stable removal efficiency was shown up to HRT 6 h. The T-N removal rate was decreased to 80.1 ~ 87.9% at HRT 12 ~ 15 h, to 71.9 ~ 87.0% at HRT 9 h, and to 60.1 ~ 65.7% at HRT 6 h. As a result of the test of removing organic matter and nitrogen, the optimum HRT of the continuous inflow SBR reactor is determined as 9 h. The TCODcr removal efficiency was 88.4 ~ 96.0% and the TBOD removal efficiency was 92.1 ~ 98.1% as a result of examination of organic matter removal efficiency according to a change in the recycling rate (1 ~ 5Q) at HRT 9 h, suggesting that the a change in the recycling rate has a minimal effect on the removal of organic matter. The T-N removal efficiency was 70.3 ~ 80.4% at 1 ~ 2Q, 77.2 ~ 85.6% at 3Q and 61.5 ~ 80.8% at 4 ~ 5Q according to a change in the recycling rate. The TP removal efficiency was reduced to 75.0 ~ 84.6% at 1 ~ 4Q and to 63.3 ~ 72.4% at 5Q. This is presumably because the release and ingestion of phosphorus (P) by microorganisms is not performed smoothly at 5Q or more. Therefore, the optimum recycling rate for removing organic matter and nutrients was found to be 3Q.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.422-434
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• 2019

Purpose: The consumption of processed foods has recently been increasing due to changes in the living environment. The purpose of this study was to identify the contribution of processed food to the nutrient intake of adult Koreans. Methods: A total of 15,760 adult people in the $6^{th}$ National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013 ~ 2015) were included in this study. According to the Korea Food and Drug Administration's classification criteria for processed foods, the 24 hour dietary recall data of the subjects were classified as processed food or natural food. The processed food intake, nutrient intake and major processed food sources by food groups were analyzed. Results: Men consumed more processed foods than did the women. Consumption of processed foods decreased with age, but it increased with the education level and the income level. The total daily processed food intake accounted for 68.1% of the total food intake. The food groups with high processed food intake were beverage, vegetables, cereals and grain products, fruits, and milk and dairy products in this order. The top food source of each food groups were beer, kimchi, bread, processed apple products, and milk. After adjusting for age, gender, and energy intake, all the nutrient intakes and percentage of dietary reference intakes for Koreans, except carbohydrates, were significantly higher in processed foods than in natural foods. The sodium intake from the processed food was 96.3% of total daily sodium intake. The intakes of nutrients from processed foods, excluding vitamins C, dietary fiber, iron, and vitamin A, were higher in men than in women. The intake of sodium from processed foods was highest for people of 30 ~ 49 years of age, and the intake of sodium from processed foods decreased for people over 50. Conclusion: Korean adults consumed more processed food than the natural food, consuming more calories and most of the nutrients from the processed food overall total daily intakes. The intake of processed foods is expected to further increase in the future, and nutritional education and research on the ingestion and selection of healthy processed foods are necessary.