• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.59-71
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• 2014

We investigated soil contamination depending on the land use by examining the contamination levels and distribution characteristics of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the national soil. Total PAHs (the sum of 16 PAH concentrations) and carcinogenic PAHs (the sum of seven carcinogenic PAH concentrations) were $8.50{\sim}3,437.16{\mu}g/kg$ and $2.94{\sim}2,136.96{\mu}g/kg$, respectively. The concentration of benzo(a)pyrene, one of the contaminants regulated by the soil quality standard in the nation, was $ND{\sim}924.73{\mu}g/kg$. Its maximum value of $924.73{\mu}g/kg$ was detected in railroad (Region 3) and is approximately 13% of the standard value for Region 3 (i.e., 7 mg/kg). We also investigated the characteristics of contamination sources of PAHs in soil of the upland, forests, roads, and railroads, examining the fraction distribution of PAHs concentration by the number of benzene rings against the total PAHs concentration. The results demonstrate that the mean fraction of 4~6-ring PAHs against total PAHs concentration in soil was in the range of 51.8~80.7% with relative abundance of high-molecular PAHs, showing that the origin of contamination is under the category of combustion sources. When the molecular indices (Flu/(Flu/Pyr), Ant/(Ant+Phe), InP/(InP+BP), and BaA/(BaA+Chr)) were applied, they were also categorized as petroleum-based combustion sources. The individual PAH concentrations in soil by the land use were grouped into Regions 1, 2, and 3, which are statistically treated and are the parts of the national category system of soil quality standard. As a result, the concentration level of 16 PAHs was $0.02{\sim}2.63{\mu}g/kg$ in Region 1, $0.05{\sim}4.26{\mu}g/kg$ in Region 2, and $2.36{\sim}178.27{\mu}g/kg$ in Region 3. The concentration level of 6 carcinogenic PAHs was 14.2~320.4% against that of benzo(a)pyrene in Region 3 and sites of recycling waste sleepers. Considering that there were similarities among PAHs in terms of structures and toxicities, it would be recommended to review other types of carcinogenic PAHs together with benzo(a)pyrene when developing the soil quality standards in the nation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1179-1184
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• 2010

We report the generation of the first monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to the polysaccharide chitosan. Mice were immunized with a mixture of chitosans, and hybridoma clones were screened for specific binders, resulting in the isolation of a single clone secreting a chitosan-specific IgM, mAbG7. In ELISAs, the antibody could bind to chitosans of varying composition, but demonstrated the highest affinity for chitosans with lower degrees of acetylation (DA) and very poor binding to chitin. We tested the ability of the antibody to bind to chitosan in situ, using preparations of fungal cell walls. Immunofluorescence microscopy confirmed that the antibody bound strongly to the cell walls of fungi with high levels of chitosan, whereas poor staining was observed in those species with cell walls of predominantly chitin or cellulose. The potential use of this antibody for the detection of fungal contamination and the protection of plants against fungal pathogens is discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.290-292
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• 2004

Heavy metal contamination has been increased in aqueous environments near many industrial facilities, such as metal plating facilities, mining operations, and tanneries. The soils in the vicinity of many military bases are also reported to be contaminated and pose a risk of groundwater and surface water contamination with heavy metals. The biological removal of metals through bioaccumulation has distinct advantages over conventional methods; the process rarely produces undesirable or deleterious chemical byproducts, it is highly efficient, easy to operate and cost-effective in the treatment of large volumes of wastewater containing toxic heavy metals. In addition, a recent development of molecular biology shed light on the enhancing the microorganism's natural remediation capability as well as improving the current biological treatment. In this study, characteristics of the cell growth and heavy metal accumulation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains expressing phytochelatin syntahse (PCS) gene were studied in batch cultures. The AtCRFI gene was demonstrated to confer substantial increases in metal tolerance in yeast. PCS-expressing cells tolerated more Cd$^{2＋}$ than controls.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.269-273
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• 2004

Squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) associated antigen is a subfraction of TA-4, a tumor-associated antigen first described by Kato and Torigoe in 1977. TA-4, obtained from squamous cell carcinoma cancer tissue of the uterine cervix, has been characterized as a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of approximately 45,000 daltons. SCC antigen has been studied in other squamous cell malignancies including lung, esophagus, head and neck, anal canal, and skin. SCC antigen is shed naturally through sweat, saliva and other body fluids. Contamination of specimens, tray, bead dispenser or other accessories with sweat, saliva or aerosols can cause falsely elevated values. To reduce the possibility of contamination, gloves should be worn in all phases of assay preparation, and when handling specimens, accessories or reagents that will be used in SCC and Thyroid function test(TFT).

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.565-569
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• 1999

In these days, the silicone insulators have been increasingly studied and applied for outdoor insulators because it has superior characteristics than porcelain and glass insulators, which have been used for outdoor insulators. First of all, The excellent performance of the silicone rubber in polluted and wet conditions is attributed to the ability of the material to maintain the hydrophobicity of the surface in the presence of severe contamination and wet conditions. This is because of the presence of low molecular weight mobile fluid in the silicone rubber which diffuses to the surface and to above the contamination layer. But, the leakage current and some surface discharge occurs on surface of the composite polymeric insulation materials when the insulator is used for a long time with severe contaminative condition and it can lead the contamination flashover. So the leakage current and the discharge current are important to estimate the condition of the silicone rubber surface. In this paper, the average leakage current, the relation of surface discharge current and phase angle were study to investigate electrical conduction of silicone rubber surface with the salt fog condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Dyers and Finishers Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.80-82
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• 2008

The distributions of 3 disperse dyes with different molecular structures among polyurethane (PU) and polyester (PET) in dyeing PET-PU blend and which dye structure contaminated less PU portion were studied. The amounts of dyes left substrates after reduction clearing and washing were measured to prove which dye structure had an effect on improving washing fastness. Disperse dye with high molecular weight showed similar distribution onto PU and polyester by dying both substrates with similar rate and less contamination to polyurethane while other dyes distributed to PU faster than to PET had.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 1999

In order to understand the biological role of calmodulin in plants, transgenic tobacco plants expressing a calmodulin mutant (VU-4 calmodulin, lys to ile-115) gene have been analyzed. SDS-PAGE and Western-blot analyses showed that the foreign calmodulin mutant is stably and highly expressed in the transgenic tobacco plants. The levels of $H_2O_2$were elevated approximately 2-fold in the transgenic plants. Furthermore, the transgenic tobacco plants have more than 6-fold higher levels of NADPH compared to control tobacco plants. The present findings, combined with previous data showing differences in the susceptibility of the transgenic tobacco seeds and normal tobacco seeds to fungal contamination (Oh and Yang, 1996), suggest that the expression of the calmodulin derivative gene in tobacco plants could increase resistance to infection by fungal pathogens.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.553-557
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• 2013

The stretching vibration of OH of ice Ih is studied by Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics in regarding the effect of mixed H/D contamination while the vibrational spectrum is considered by velocity-velocity autocorrelations of the sampled ensemble. When hydrogen atoms are immersed randomly into the deuterated ice, a typical vibrational frequency of OH stretching mode is observed to be similar to that from the pure $H_2O$ ice. When focusing on the correlation of isolated neighboring OH stretching, a narrower and blue shifted peak is observed at the high frequency range as a result of the screening from the complex many body correlations by $D_2O$ environment. It is also specifically related to the symmetric intermolecular correlations between neighboring OH stretching modes. More enhanced high frequency range can be explained by the expansion of such two body correlations to collective many body correlations among all possible OH stretching modes. This contribution becomes important when it involves in chemical interactions via excitation of such vibrational states.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.63-67
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• 2005

Adaptive responses to diverse microbial pathogens might be limited in relatively few types. Host cell responses to pathogens are believed to be patterned or stereotyped along with species or class. We tried to compose the host response to Mycoplasma in terms of cellular gene expression. Although gene expression profile of two host HeLa and 293 cells were quite different each other, 30 genes were differentially expressed by mycoplasma infection in both of HeLa and 293 cells. Six of them (PR48, MADH4, MKPX, CRK, RBM7, NEK3) were related to cell cycle or proliferation. Another category of genes like IL1 HY1, KLRF1, TNFSF14, GBP1 were host defense to elicit immune responses. With this set of genes, we establish the prediction model for mycoplasma contamination.

• BMB Reports
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.537-540
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• 2000

A simplified but reliable method was developed for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection of genetically modified (GM) plants. The modified CTAB (mCTAB) method enabled us to prepare a high quality of genomic DNA from several hundred plant leaf samples in one day. Using DNA samples prepared from seven dicots and two monocots, approximately 1.75-kb regions spanning 17 S to 25 S ribosomal RNA genes were successfully amplified in a 2X PCR pre-mix containing BLOTTO. Further fidelity assessment of the mCTAB method by PCR analysis with Roundup Ready soybean (RRS) and non-RRS plants showed that the DNA samples prepared alternately from each of two lines were evidently free of cross-contamination. These results demonstrate that the mCTAB method is highly recommended for the rapid detection of transgenes in large numbers of leaf samples from diverse transgenic plants.