• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.263-271
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• 2014

Objectives: Along with the several cases of pulmonary disorders caused by exposure to indium that have been reported in Japan, China, and the United States, cases of Korean workers involved in processes that require handling of indium compounds with potential risk of exposure to indium compounds have also been reported. We performed biological monitoring for workers in various target manufacturing processes of indium, indium oxide, and indium tin oxide(ITO)/indium zinc oxide(IZO) in domestic factories. Materials: As biological exposure indices, we measured serum concentrations of indium using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and Krebs von den Lungen 6(KL-6) and surfactant protein D(SP-D) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. We classified the ITO/IZO target manufacturing process into powdering, mixing, molding, sintering, polishing, bonding, and finishing. Results: The powdering process workers showed the highest serum indium level. The mixing and polishing process workers also showed high serum indium levels. In the powdering process, the mean indium serum concentration in the workers exceeded $3{\mu}g/L$, the reference value in Japan. Of the powdering, mixing, and polishing process workers, 83.3%, 50.0%, and 24.5%, respectively, had values exceeding the reference value in Japan. We suppose that the reason of the higher prevalence of high indium concentrations in powder processing workers was that most of the particles in the powdering process were respirable dust smaller than $10{\mu}m$. The mean KL-6 and SP-D concentrations were high in the powdering, mixing, and polishing process workers. Therefore, the workers in these processes who were at greater risk of exposure to indium powder were those who had higher serum levels of indium, as well as KL-6 and SP-D. We observed significant differences in serum indium, KL-6, and SP-D levels between the process groups. Conclusions: Five among the seven reported cases of "indium lung" in Japan involved polishing process workers. Polishing process workers in Korea also had high serum levels of indium, KL-6, and SP-D. The outcomes of this study can be used as essential bases for establishing biological monitoring measures for workers handling indium compounds, and for developing health-care guidelines and special medical surveillance in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 1998.02a
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• pp.120-120
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• 1998

Boron nitride (BN) films have attracted a growing interest for a variety of t technological applications due to their excellent characteristics, namely hardness, c chemical inertness, and dielectrical behavior, etc. There are two crystalline phases 1551; of BN that are analogous to phases of carbon. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has a a layered s$\sigma$ucture which is spz-bonded structure similar to that of graphite, and is t the stable ordered phase at ambient conditions. Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) has a z zinc blende structure with sp3-bonding like as diamond, 따ld is the metastable phase a at ambient conditions. Among of their prototypes, especially 삼Ie c-BN is an i interesting material because it has almost the same hardness and thermal c conductivity as di없nond. C Conventionally, significant progress has been made in the experimental t techniques for synthesizing BN films using various of the physical vapor deposition 밍ld chemical vapor deposition. But, the major disadvantage of c-BN films is that t they are much more difficult to synthesize than h-BN films due to its narrow s stability phase region, high compression stress, and problem of nitrogen source c control. Recent studies of the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of I III - V compound have established that a molecular level understanding of the d deposition process is mandatory in controlling the selectivity parameters. This led t to the concept of using a single source organometallic precursor, having the c constituent elements in stoichiometric ratio, for MOCVD growth of 삼Ie required b binary compound. I In this study, therefore, we have been carried out the growth of h-BN thin f films on silicon substrates using a single source precursors. Polycrystalline h-BN t thin films were deposited on silicon in the temperature range of $\alpha$)() - 900 $^{\circ}$C from t the organometallic precursors of Boron-Triethylamine complex, (CZHs)3N:BRJ, and T Tris(dimethylamino)Borane, [CH3}zNhB, by supersonic molecular jet and remote p plasma assisted MOCVD. Hydrogen was used as carrier gas, and additional nitrogen w was supplied by either aDlIDonia through a nozzle, or nitrogen via a remote plasma. T The as-grown films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x x-ray pthotoelectron spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, t transmission electron diffraction, optical transmission, and atomic force microscopy.roscopy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.563-567
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• 2011

We report the structural characterization of $Bi_xZn_{1-x}O$ thin films grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. By increasing the Bi flux during the growth process, $Bi_xZn_{1-x}O$ thin films with various Bi contents (x = 0~13.17 atomic %) were prepared. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements revealed the formation of Bi-oxide phase in (Bi)ZnO after increasing the Bi content. However, it was impossible to determine whether the formed Bi-oxide phase was the monoclinic structure ${\alpha}-Bi_2O_3$ or the tetragonal structure ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ by means of XRD ${\theta}-2{\theta}$ measurements, as the observed diffraction peaks of the $2{\theta}$ value at ~28 were very close to reflection of the (012) plane for the monoclinic structure ${\alpha}-Bi_2O_3$ at 28.064 and the reflection of the (201) plane for the tetragonal structure ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ at 27.946. By means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using a diffraction pattern analysis and a high-resolution lattice image, it was finally determined as the monoclinic structure ${\alpha}-Bi_2O_3$ phase. To investigate the distribution of the Bi and Bi-oxide phases in BiZnO films, elemental mapping using energy dispersive spectroscopy equipped with TEM was performed. Considering both the XRD and the elemental mapping results, it was concluded that hexagonal-structure wurtzite $Bi_xZn_{1-x}O$ thin films were grown at a low Bi content (x = ~2.37 atomic %) without the formation of ${\alpha}-Bi_2O_3$. However, the increased Bi content (x = 4.63~13.17 atomic %) resulted in the formation of the ${\alpha}-Bi_2O_3$ phase in the wurtzite (Bi)ZnO matrix.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.306.1-306.1
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• 2016

ZnO semiconductor material has been widely utilized in various applications in semiconductor device technology owing to its unique electrical and optical features. It is a promising as solar cell material, because of its low cost, n-type conductivity and wide direct band gap. In this work ZnO/Si heterojunctions were fabricated by using pulsed laser deposition. Vacuum chamber was evacuated to a base pressure of approximately $2{\times}10^{-6}Torr$. ZnO thin films were grown on p-Si (100) substrate at oxygen partial pressure from 5mTorr to 40mTorr. Growth temperature of ZnO thin films was set to 773K. A pulsed (10 Hz) Nd:YAG laser operating at a wavelength of 266 nm was used to produce a plasma plume from an ablated a ZnO target, whose density of laser energy was $10J/cm^2$. Thickness of all the thin films of ZnO was about 300nm. The optical property was characterized by photoluminescence and crystallinity of ZnO was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. For fabrication ZnO/Si heterojunction diodes, indium metal and Al grid patterns were deposited on back and front side of the solar cells by using thermal evaporator, respectively. Finally, current-voltage characteristics of the ZnO/Si structure were studied by using Keithly 2600. Under Air Mass 1.5 Global solar simulator with an irradiation intensity of $100mW/cm^2$, the electrical properties of ZnO/Si heterojunction photovoltaic devices were analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1244-1252
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• 1998

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the nutritional status of vitamin and minerals in the patients with alcoholic liver disease and to obtain the materials for nutritional education for alcoholics. The subjects consist of 80 patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis(ALC) and 12 patients with alcoholic fatty liver(AFL). The control group included 57 alcoholics without liver disease(A), 32 patients with viral liver cirrhosis(VLC) and 194 normal men(NL). Biochemical evaluation of nutritional status was investigated by the analysis of blood samples. The frequency of vitamin B1 deficiency in the ALC, AFL and A groups as indicated by the erythrocyte transketolase activity coefficient were 46.0%, 66.7% and 57.9% respectively. The frequency of vitamin B2 deficiency in the ALC, AFL and A groups as indicated by the erythrocyte glutathione reductase activity coefficient were 9.8%, 8.3% and 38.6% respectively. Vitamin A deficiency was not detected in the alcoholic subjects. The frequency of vi tamin E deficiency in ALC, AFL and A were 96.3%, 66.7% and 86.0% respectively. The levels of plasma lipid peroxidation products were significantly higher in the alcoholic subjects than in the normal subjects. The frequency of subjects below normal range of hemoglobin were 85.0% in ALC, 50.0% in AFL and 31.6% in A. The frequency of copper deficiency in the ALC, AFL and A groups were 48.4%, 16.7% and 17.5% respectively. The frequency of zinc deficiency in the ALC, AFL and A groups were 83.8%, 41.7% and 66.7% respectively. Overall, the vitamin and minerals status of the alcoholic subjects in this study was evaluated to be very poor on the basis of biochemical assessments. The results suggest that alcohol abuse and poor dietary intake could cause malnutrition and may be important risk factors in causing alcoholic liver disease in alcoholics. In addition, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, Cu, Fe and antioxidant supplementation may be effective in nutritional therapy for chronic alcoholics.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.1001-1006
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• 2011

To determine the efficiency of copper (Cu) supplementation, a feeding experiment was carried out with 240 day old broiler chicks (vencobb-100). Birds were divided into four dietary treatments: i) C - no additives, ii) $T_1$-75 mg inclusion of Cu/kg diet, iii) $T_2$-150 mg inclusion of Cu/kg diet, iv) $T_3$-250 mg inclusion of Cu/kg diet. The present study was carried out in the Department of Animal Physiology, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Kolkata, India for a period of 42 days (6 weeks). Growth performance was measured in terms of live weight gain, cumulative feed intake and feed conversion ratio at the end of $21^{st}$ and $42^{nd}$ day of the experiment and the result was found to be encouraging for commercial enterprises when the chickens were fed at 150 mg Cu/kg ($T_2$) of their diet. Excess dietary copper more than 150 mg/kg reduced the haemoglobin (Hb) concentration in blood and resulted in the accumulation of copper in the liver with decreased blood Hb concentration and packed cell volumes (PCV). Copper supplementation increased the total erythrocyte count (TEC) as copper is involved in erythropoiesis. But, from the result it is indicated that the dietary copper concentration could not alter the total leukocyte count (TLC). In case of different leucocytes count (DLC), there were no significant differences observed among the different treated groups. Statistical analysis showed significant (p<0.01) difference in plasma concentration of copper, zinc, ferrous and cholesterol among the different copper treated groups. The result indicates that supplementation of copper is an effective way of improving the production performance and haematological parameters in broiler chicken.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.700-707
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the implications of dietary intake and the level of serum micronutrients (Se, Mn, Cu, Zn), lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant capacity in Korean women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) . From October 2002 to March 2003, 50 patients diagnosed with CIN (confirmed with colposcopy directed biopsy) and 50 patients without any cervical disease as the control group were enrolled in the study at the Department of Gynecology Cancer Center at Samsung Cheil Hospital. Animal fat intake in CIN group was significantly higher than that of the control group, but plant protein intake in the CIN group was significantly lower than that of the Control group. Energy and zink intakes were similar in the two groups. The serum concentration of antioxidant minerals in the CIN group were not significantly different from the control group. The total radical trapping antioxidant potential concentration of plasma was significantly lower in the CIN group (1.12mM) than in the control group (1.25mM) (p<0.05). But MDA (malondialde-hyde) of serum was significantly higher in the CIN group (7.60mM) than in the control group (4.99mM) (p<0.005). The serum selenium concentration of the control group showed significant positive correlation with the MDA level (r=0.311). These findings are suggestive of protective roles for healthy dietary habit including increasing antioxidant nut-rients and decreasing intake of fat.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.347-354
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• 2015

Excess manganese (Mn) is neurotoxic. Increased manganese stores in the brain are associated with a number of behavioral problems, including motor dysfunction, memory loss and psychiatric disorders. We previously showed that the transport and neurotoxicity of manganese after intranasal instillation of the metal are altered in Hfe-deficient mice, a mouse model of the iron overload disorder hereditary hemochromatosis (HH). However, it is not fully understood whether loss of Hfe function modifies Mn neurotoxicity after ingestion. To investigate the role of Hfe in oral Mn toxicity, we exposed Hfe-knockout ($Hfe^{-/-}$) and their control wild-type ($Hfe^{+/+}$) mice to $MnCl_2$ in drinking water (5 mg/mL) for 5 weeks. Motor coordination and spatial memory capacity were determined by the rotarod test and the Barnes maze test, respectively. Brain and liver metal levels were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Compared with the water-drinking group, mice drinking Mn significantly increased Mn concentrations in the liver and brain of both genotypes. Mn exposure decreased iron levels in the liver, but not in the brain. Neither Mn nor Hfe deficiency altered tissue concentrations of copper or zinc. The rotarod test showed that Mn exposure decreased motor skills in $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice, but not in $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice (p = 0.023). In the Barns maze test, latency to find the target hole was not altered in Mn-exposed $Hfe^{+/+}$ compared with water-drinking $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice. However, Mn-exposed $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice spent more time to find the target hole than Mn-drinking $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice (p = 0.028). These data indicate that loss of Hfe function impairs spatial memory upon Mn exposure in drinking water. Our results suggest that individuals with hemochromatosis could be more vulnerable to memory deficits induced by Mn ingestion from our environment. The pathophysiological role of HFE in manganese neurotoxicity should be carefully examined in patients with HFE-associated hemochromatosis and other iron overload disorders.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.58 no.12
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• pp.42.1-42.8
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• 2016

Background: Deficiency of macro and micro-minerals in the ration of dairy cows adversely affects growth, milk production and reproduction efficiency. It is essential to examine mineral concentrations in feeds offered to dairy cows in practical farms. Methods: Two villages from each taluka were selected at random for taking representative samples of feeds, forages and hair. Within the village, help was sought from village milk producers and district animal husbandry officer for identification of 4 to 5 farmers and collection of representative samples. All the samples were processed and analyzed for chemical composition as well as major macro and micro-minerals, using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometer. Results: Ca content in wheat straw (0.29%), crushed maize (0.02%) and wheat bran (0.12%) was found to be below the critical level (0.30%). The P content in concentrate ingredients was high (0.26-0.96%), but low in dry roughages (0.06-0.12%). Cereal straws (0.14%) and grains (0.12%) were deficient in Mg. Feeds and forages were found to be adequate in K (1.50%). Cereals straws were found to be deficient in S (0.11%). Greens were good source of Cu (12.02 ppm). Wheat straw was found to be low in Zn (18 ppm), but high in Mn (225 ppm) and Fe (509 ppm). Local grasses and azolla green were found to be rich source of Co (>1.00 ppm). Se (0.63 ppm) was present in appreciable quantities in most of the feedstuffs. Conclusions: From the present study, it was apparent that the feeds and forages available in the state of Jharkhand may not meet the requirements for Ca, P, Mg, Cu, Zn and Co in order to sustain a milk production of ~10 kg/day. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement these deficient minerals through area specific mineral mixture in the ration of dairy cows for improving productivity and reproduction efficiency.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.297-303
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• 2000

Isotope-dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to determine trace amounts of Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn in sediment. Sediment samples were dissolved by microwave digestion with addition of mixed acid ($HNO_3$, HF and $HClO_4$). Lead was determined after separation of alkaline and alkaline earth metals by an ammonium pyrrolidenedithiocarbarmate (APDC) solvent extraction. The other elements were determined after separation of iron, tin and titanium by hydroxide precipitation. Recovery efficiency of the analyte elements was not satisfactory, but most of matrix elements causing the isobaric interference could be effectively eliminated by the separation. Good agreement was achieved with the certified values in the analysis of the two sediment reference materials.