• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.20-26
• /
• 2008

The objective of the study which utilised population based data was to determine the respiratory condition of elementary school children in Gangneung. From October 9th to December 14th, 2006, Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT) including Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and Forced Expiratoy Volume in I Second $(FEV_1)$ were conducted on the target group of children using a spirometer. The prevalence of asthmatic symptoms was 29.8% among boys and 39.6% among girls. By using logistic regression, we found that family history of allergic rhinitis (OR=3.90, CI=1.05-14.51), experience of allergic conjunctivitis (OR=4.67, CI=1.54-14.16) and atopic dermatitis (OR=2.86, CI=1.17-7.05) significantly increased the asthmatic symptoms. Also, a family history of asthma and food allergy were associated with asthmatic symptoms. In relation to housing and environmental risk factors, residences under the ground (OR=3.59, CI=1.35-9.51) and big-size dolls (OR=2.71, CI=0.86-8.53) significantly increased the prevalence of asthmatic symptoms. For PFT, above four families, exposure of passive smoking and pets significantly reduced FVC in both groups (p<0.05). In girls, a big-size doll was significantly associated with decreased lung function (FVC and $FEV_1$). In boys, using bed significantly reduced $FEV_1$. Also, the risk of asthmatic symptoms was found to increase when the house has been built for 5 years or more, the house is close to a road $({\leq}100m)$, a gas/Kerosene heater or carpet is utilized within the house. However, their differences were not significant. It is concluded that genetic factor such as a family history of respiratory disease, allergic symptoms and housing risk factor are related to asthmatic symptoms. These results were worth noting because the findings will help address risk factors related respiratory symptoms especially in relation to housing and environment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.284-293
• /
• 2000

For the artificial removal of air pollutants such as pesticides, environmental toxicants, and pathogenic microorganisms in the greenhouse or the living environment, the accelerated photodegradation and the biocidal effects of some photosensitizers (PS)/photocatalysts (PC) were tested under the sunlight and/or artificial light. The selected photosensitizers/photocatalysts included the semiconductors (PC-1 and PC-2), the oxidizers (PC-3, PC-4, PC-5 and PC-6), the aromatic ketone (PS-7) and the aromatic amine (PS-8). In the case of dichlorvos, all the photocatalysts selected showed more accelerated photodegradation than the control without photocatalysts under both the sunlight and artificial light. Whereas, only the photocatalyst PC-1 accelerated the degradation of methyl tert-butyl ether about 17 times more than the control under both the sunlight and artificial light. Procymidone was much more degraded by the photosensitizer PS-8 and the two photocatalysts (PC-1, PC-6) than by PS-7. In the preliminary experiments to diminish the population of the microorganisms in the air, the photocatalyst PC-1 added to the suspensions of Pseudomonas putida, Phytophthora capsici, and Salmonella typhimurium obviously inhibited the microbial growth under the artificial light. The photocatalyst PC-1 showed a bactericidal activity against Salmonella typhimurium spread on the nutrient broth agar medium. These results suggest that the photosensitizers/photocatalysis under the light can remove some air pollutants and hence they can be used to reduce the exposure of the workers in the horticultural facilities and/or the public in the environment to the harmful pollutants.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.240-248
• /
• 1997

References on the cooking and processing losses of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides in foods were collected and analyzed to indicate that the average removal of whole pesticides being 45% in water washing, 56% in detergent washing, 91% in peeling of fruits, 5l% in blanching-boiling of vegetables, 90% in milling and processing of grains. The theoretical maximum daily intake (TMDI) calculated from the food intake and Korea maximum residue limits showed that 4 among 11 pesticides exceeded the acceptable daily intake (ADI). The estimated daily intake (EDI) calculated from the food intake and monitoring data reached 17.2% of ADI on the assumption that the toxicity of OP pesticides appears as an additive effect. The % ratio of ADI for individual pesticides was 6.1% in diazinon, 5.8% in fenthion, 3.3% in fenitrothion and very low in other pesticides. By applying reduction factors to the EDI, the removal ratio of OP pesticides in cooking and processing appears to be over 50%. In summary, the exposure level of Korean population toward whole OP pesticides was estimated to reach 23% of ADI, which would not cause any health rick as yet, but calls for a systematic risk assessment.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.1226-1232
• /
• 2007

Phellinus linteus is a well-known Oriental medicinal fungus that has various biological activities, including immunomodulatory and anti-tumor activities, the mechanisms of which are poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the anti-proliferative activity of the methanol extract of P. linteus-Barley corn (MEPLB) in human lekemic U937 cells. It was found that exposure of U937 cells to MEPLB resulted morphological change and growth inhibition in a dose-dependent manner as measured by trypan blue count and MTT assay. Upon treatment with MEPLB, U937 cells developed many of the hallmark features of apoptosis, including condensation of chromatin and an increase in the sub-G1 population suggesting that the anti-proliferative effect of MEPLB is associated with the induction of apoptosis. The anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of MEPLB were connected with a marked induction of the pro-apoptotic Bax and cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p21 in a p53-independent manner. Additionally, MEPLB treatment significantly induced the caspase-3 activity in U937 cells. Taken together, the present results suggest that apoptotic signals evoked by MEPLB in human leukemic U937 cells may converge caspase-3 activation through an up-regulation of Bax rather than a down-regulation of Bcl-2 or Bel-xL.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.6
• /
• pp.673-677
• /
• 2017

The present study was performed to investigate the seroprevalence and risk factors for Dirofilaria immitis infection in cats from Liaoning province, northeastern China. From October 2014 to September 2016, sera of 651 cats, including 364 domestic cats and 287 feral cats (332 females and 319 males) were assessed. They were tested for the presence of D. immitis antigen using SNAP Heartworm RT test kit. In this population, the average prevalence was 4.5%. Age and rearing conditions (feral or domestic) were found to be associated with the prevalence of D. immitis. The prevalence was significantly higher in feral cats compared with domestic cats (8.4% vs 1.4%, P<0.01). There was no significant difference between males and females (4.7% vs 4.2%, P>0.05), but older cats (${\geq}3$ years old) showed a statistically higher prevalence compared with younger cats (<3 years old) in feral populations (16.8 vs 2.4%, P<0.01), while the difference between the age groups was not statistically significant in domestic cats (2.4% vs 0.51%, P>0.05), all these results suggest that outdoor exposure time may be one of the most important factors for D. immitis prevalence in cats. Results reveal that D. immitis are prevalence in domestic and feral cats in northeastern China, which indicates that appropriate preventive measures should be taken to decrease the incidence of feline heartworm disease in Liaoning province, northeastern China.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.31 no.4 s.63
• /
• pp.708-718
• /
• 1998

To investigate the effect of smoking and drinking habit on the health status in lead using industries, 2,785 male workers in lead using industries (7 storage battery industries, 7 secondary smelting and related industries, and 4 primary metal and other manufacturing industries) were selected for this study. This study was carried out as a part of periodic health examination. Selected study variables were zinc protoporphyrin in whole blood (ZPP), SGOT and SGPT for laboratory test. Questionnaire for lead related symptoms and smoking and drinking habit was provided to all the workers and filled up by themselves and reconfirmed by physician. The results obtained were as follows; 1. The overall smoking and drinking rate of study population were 69.8% and 73.6%, respectively. While the smoking and drinking rate of storage battery workers were 68.8% and 72.3%, those of secondary smelting industries and other industries were 66.0% & 66.4% and 74.6 & 80.3% respectively. 2. While the mean values of blood ZPP of lead exposed workers were significantly higher than other group, those of SGOT of storage battery workers were significant higher than other worker. But there were no differences of mean values of other variables. 3. Smoking habit did not affect on the mean value of blood ZPP of workers in special health examination group, but there were significant differences of blood ZPP and SGOT between drinker and non-drinker. 4. Symptom prevalence of lead exposure were higher in drinking and smoking group than non-drinking and non-smoking group. 5. In multiple regression analysis of the total lead related symptoms, blood ZPP, SGOT, and SGPT as dependent variable, respectively, and age, work duration, blood ZPP, pack year and amount of alcohol drinking as independent variables, work duration, pack year, amount of alcohol drinking, age contributed to total symptoms; and age, work duration, pack year contributed to blood ZPP; and age, amount of alcohol drinking, work duration contributed to SGOT; and pack year contributed to SGPT.

• The Korean Journal of Soil Zoology
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.97-100
• /
• 2000

We report here an improved collecting method of the infective juveniles multiplied in the host insect with the entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema carpocapsae Weiser. The specific characteristics of this method involved the opening of the host insect hemocoel after the population of their infective juveniles reached at the maximum (6 days at 25$\^{C}$ after nematode treatment to nonimmunized host insects) to facilitate the escape of the multiplied nematodes. It also used 'Baermann funnel'method to select the infective juveniles effectively. This improved 'Baermann funnel'method was compared with a traditional collecting method, which was characterized with a combination of untreated host insects and 'White trap'collecting method, in both yield and pathogenicity of the collected infective juveniles to the fifth instar larvae of beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (H bner). More than 95% of the nematode populations collected by the two methods represented the morphological infective juveniles. To prove the nematodes to be infective juveniles functionally, pathogenicity and infective activity were compared in the nematodes collected by the two methods. They were not different in both pathogenicities and infective activities which were measured by the numbers of nematodes penetrated into the hemocoel of the insect hosts after exposure for the specific times to the same dote of infective juveniles. Significant difference between two collecting methods was found in the total yields of the infective juveniles per host insect About 50,000 infective juveniles per infected fifth instar larva of S. exigua after 6 day incubation at 25$\^{C}$ were collected only for 2 days by the improved 'Baermann funnel'method, while about 20,000 infective juveniles per host were collected for 10 days by the classical 'White trap'method.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.706-714
• /
• 2020

Currently, 90 % of the world's population breathes air with a fine dust content exceeding the World Health Organization's annual average exposure limit (10 ㎍/㎥). Global efforts have been devoted toward reducing secondary pollutants and ultra-fine dust through regulations on nitrogen oxides released over land and sea. Domestic efforts have also aimed at creating clean marine environments by reducing sulfur emissions, which are the primary cause of dust accumulation in ships, through developing and distributing environment-friendly ships. Among the technologies for reducing harmful emissions from diesel engines, electrostatic precipitator offer several advantages such as a low pressure loss, high dust collection efficiency, and NOx removal and maintenance. This study aims to increase the durability of a ship by improving equipment quality through failure mode effects analysis for the preventive maintenance of an electrostatic precipitator that was developed for reducing fine dust particles emitted from the 2,427 kW marine diesel engines in ships with a gross tonnage of 999 tons. With regard to risk priority, failure mode 241 (poor dust capture efficiency) was the highest, with an RPN of 180. It was necessary to determine the high-risk failure mode in the collecting electrode and manage it intensively. This was caused by clearance defects, owing to vibrations and consequent pin loosening. Given that pin loosening is mainly caused by vibrations generated in the hull or equipment, it is necessary to manage the position of pin loosening.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.249-253
• /
• 2013

Background: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive tumor of mesothelial surfaces. Previous studies have observed an association between ABO blood groups and risk of certain malignancies, including pancreatic and gastric cancer; however, no information on any association with MM risk is available. The aim of this study was to investigate possible associations amoong MM clinicopathological features and ABO blood groups and Rh factor. Materials and Methods: In 252 patients with MM, the ABO blood group and Rh factor were examined and compared with the control group of 3,022,883 healthy volunteer blood donors of Turkish Red Crescent between 2004 and 2011. The relationship of blood groups with various clinicopathological features were also evaluated in the patient group. Results: The median age was 55 (range: 27-86) and 61.5% of patients were male. While 82.8% of patients had a history of exposure to asbestos, 60.7% of patients had a smoking history. Epithelioid (65.1%) was the most common histology and 18.7% of patients had mixed histology. Overall, the ABO blood group distribution of the 252 patients with MM was comparable with the general population. The median overall survival (OS) was 14 months (95% confidence interval, 11.3-16.6 months). The median OS for A, B, AB, and O were 11, 15, 16, and 15 months respectively (p=0.396). First line chemotherapy was administered to 118 patients. The median OS of patients on pemetrexed or gemcitabine was longer than patient who was not administered chemotherapy [17 months (95%CI, 11.7-22.2) vs. 9 months (95%CI, 6.9-11.0); p<0.001]. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that patients with MM can benefit from treatment with pemetrexed or gemcitabine in combination with cisplatin. We did not observe a statistically significant association between ABO blood group and risk of MM.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.309-317
• /
• 2009

Occupational exposure to inorganic dusts such as coal and silica has been identified as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk factor. This risk factor causes lung inflammation and protease-antiprotease imbalance. This abnormal inflammatory response of the lung induces parenchymal tissue destruction and leads to progressive airflow limitation that is characteristics of COPD. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of proteases such as neutrophil elastase (NE) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and antiproteases such as alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 with lung function. The study population contained 223 retired workers exposed to inorganic dusts. We performed lung function test, including percent of forced expiratory volume in one second ($%FEV_1$) predicted and $%FEV_1$/forced vital capacity (FVC). We analyzed serum MMP-9, AAT, TIMP-1 and plasma NE concentrations by sandwich enzyme immunoassay. NE, AAT, and TIMP-1 concentrations in workers, who had $%FEV_1$<80% predicted, were higher than those of workers who had $%FEV_1{\geq}80%$ (P<0.05). Both AAT and TIMP-1 concentrations in workers with airflow limitation were higher than those of workers with normal airflow (P<0.05). $%FEV_1$ predicted showed significant negative correlation with AAT (r=-0.255, P<0.0l), TIMP-1 (r=-0.232, P<0.01), and NE (r=-0.196, P<0.01). $%FEV_1$/FVC predicted showed significant negative correlation with NE (r=-0.172, P<0.05). From the results of stepwise multiple regression analysis about $%FEV_1$ and $%FEV_1$/FVC, significant independents were NE (r=-0.135, P=0.001) and AAT (r=-0.100, P=0.013) in $%FEV_1$, and NE (r=-0.160, P=0.014) in $%FEV_1$/FVC. In the present study, there were significant correlations between airflow limitation and protease concentration and between airflow limitation and antiprotease concentration. Serum protease and antiprotease concentrations, however, may be affected by the biological and inflammatory responses. It is necessary to evaluate specimens more reflected the effects of proteases and antiproteases in the lung such as lung tissue, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and exhaled breath condensate (EBC).