• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.210-217
• /
• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to measure the concentration of volatile organic compound (VOC)s originated from the chemicals used and/or derived from the original parental chemicals in the photolithography processes of semiconductor manufacturing factories. Methods: A total of four photolithography processes in 4 Fabs at three different semiconductor manufacturing factories in Korea were selected for this study. This study investigated the types of chemicals used and generated during the photolithography process of each Fab, and the concentration levels of VOCs for each Fab. Results: A variety of organic compounds such as ketone, alcohol, and acetate compounds as well as aromatic compounds were used as solvents and developing agents in the processes. Also, the generation of by-products, such as toluene and phenol, was identified through a thermal decomposition experiment performed on a photoresist. The VOC concentration levels in the processes were lower than 5% of the threshold limit value (TLV)s. However, the air contaminated with chemical substances generated during the processes was re-circulated through the ventilation system, thereby affecting the airborne VOC concentrations in the photolithography processes. Conclusion: Tens of organic compounds were being used in the photolithography processes, though the types of chemical used varied with the factory. Also, by-products, such as aromatic compounds, could be generated during photoresist patterning by exposure to light. Although the airborne VOC concentrations resulting from the processes were lower than 5% of the TLVs, employees still could be exposed directly or indirectly to various types of VOCs.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.31-43
• /
• 2014

Confined and mechanically ventilated broiler house has been recently come into wide use to increase productivity and control rearing conditions. However, high dust concentration inside facility can threaten respiratory welfare of farmers and broilers. In Korea, there is no regulation in terms of air quality control inside agricultural facilities and sufficient data is not available. To cope with these, periodic monitoring of inhalable and respirable dust concentration were conducted according to season, broiler's activity and specific events such as shipment work for broilers in mechanically ventilated broiler house. Chamber experiment was also designed to analyze mechanism of dust generation from ground beds according to water contents and surrounding wind environment. Results showed that significant increase of inhalable (p=0.002) and respirable (p=0.03) dust were observed when activity of broilers was high according to entrance of the workers. Even shipment work for matured broilers, high level of dust were observed; inhalable dust was exceeded the threshold limit over maximum 303 % and respirable dust was over maximum 1,550 %, implying that acute respiratory symptoms could be manifested for the workers. From the chamber experiment, critical water contents for interrupting of dust generation were measured; about 45 % for inhalable dust and about 50 % for respirable dust. These results can be a trigger for designing plan of dust control however it still needs consideration of various environmental conditions, hygiene problems, etc.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.47-52
• /
• 2011

Objective: To determine whether characteristics of sperm motility obtained by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) could predict pregnancy after intrauterine insemination (IUI) in couples with unexplained infertility. Methods: Three hundred eighty-three cycles of intrauterine insemination with superovulation were retrospectively analyzed. Semen analysis was performed with CASA before and after swim-up and the parameters were compared between pregnant and non-pregnant women. Results: The pregnancy rate per cycle was 14.1%. Pregnant and non-pregnant women were comparable in terms of age, infertility duration, the number of dominant follicles. While sperm concentration, motility, and parameters such as average path velocity (VAP) and percentage rapid (RAPID) before semen preparation were significantly different between the pregnancy and non-pregnancy groups, there were no differences in sperm parameters when comparing the two groups after preparation. Using a receiver operating characteristic curve to measure sensitivity and specificity, the optimal threshold value for the predictors of pregnancy was revealed to be a concentration of ${\geq}111{\times}10^6/mL$, a motility of ${\geq}$ 51.4%, and RAPID ${\geq}$ 30.1% before preparation for IUI. Conclusion: Sperm parameters including concentration, motility, and RAPID before sperm preparation could have predictive value for pregnancy outcome after intrauterine insemination with superovulation in couples with unexplained infertility, and would be helpful when counseling patients before they make the decision to proceed with IVF/ICSI-ET.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.49-55
• /
• 2012

A 1.28 L-batch reactor and continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CFSTR) fed with formate and trichloroethene (TCE) were operated for 120 days and 56 days, respectively, to study the effect of formate as electron donor on anaerobic reductive dechlorination (ARD) of TCE to cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (c-DCE), vinyl chloride (VC), and ethylene (ETH). In batch reactor, injected 60 ${\mu}mol$ TCE was completely degraded in the presence of 20% hydrogen gas ($H_2$) in less than 8 days by anaerobic dechlorination mixed-culture (300 mg-soluble protein), Evanite Culture with ability to completely degrade tetrachloroethene (PCE) and -TCE to ETH under anaerobic conditions. Once the formate was used as electron donor instead of hydrogen gas in batch or chemostat system, the TCE-dechlorination rate decreased and acetate production rate increased. It indicates that the concentration of hydrogen produced in both systems is possibly more close to threshold for homoacetogenesis process. Soluble protein concentration of Evanite culture during the batch test increased from 300 mg to 688 mg for 120 days. Through the protein monitoring, we confirmed an increase of microbial population during the reactor operation. In CFSTR test, TCE was fed continuously at 9.9 ppm (75.38 ${\mu}mol/L$) and the influent formate feed concentration increased stepwise from 1.3 mmol/L to 14.3 mmol/L. Injected TCE was accumulated at 18 days of HRT, but TCE was completely degraded at 36 days of HRT without accumulation of the injected-TCE during the left of experiment period, getting $H_2$ from fermentative hydrogen production of injected formate. Although c-DCE was also accumulated for 23 days after beginning of CFSTR operation, it reached steady-state in the presence of excessive formate. We also evaluated microbial dynamic of the culture at different chemical state in the reactor by DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis).

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.585-593
• /
• 2007

This paper presents a model for durability evaluation of concrete structures exposed to marine environment, considering mainly a build-up of surface chloride $(C_s)$ as well as diffusion coefficient (D) and chloride threshold level $(C_{lim})$. In this study, time dependency of $C_s$ and D were extensively studied for more accurate evaluation of service life of concrete structures. An analytical solution to the Fick's second law was presented for prediction of chloride ingress for time varying $C_s$. For the time varying $C_s$, a refined model using a logarithm function for time dependent $C_s$ was proposed by the regression analysis, and averaging integrated values of the D with time over exposed duration were calculated and then used for prediction of the chloride ingress to consider time dependency of D. Durability design was also carried out for railway concrete structures exposed to marine environment to ensure 100 years of service life by using the proposed models along with the standard specification on durability in Korea. The proposed model was verified by the so-called performance-based durability design, which is widely used in Europe. Results show that the standard specification underestimates durability performances of concrete structures exposed to marine environment, so the cover depth design using current durability evaluation in the standard specifications is very much conservative. Therefore, it is found that utilizing proposed models considering time dependent characteristics of $C_s$ and D can evaluate service lift of concrete structures in marine environment more accurately.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.220-227
• /
• 2016

In this paper, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in surface sediments collected three times (June, October, December, 2013), inside Jeju Harbor as major harbors of Jeju Island. The concentration of PCBs inside Jeju Harbor was in the range of 1.62~4.45 (mean) ng/g on a dry weight basis and the levels were very low. In the analysis of PCBS homologue patterns, high-chlorinated PCB congeners were dominant in surface sediments inside Jeju Harbor, indicating that their sources were originated from shipping activity. In the relationships between PCBs concentrations and particle size (mud, sand and gravel) in surface sediments, PCBs concentrations were higher in the sediments with higher mud content, indicating that higher PCBs were distributed with increasing sediments of fine gradules. The PCBs concentrations in surface sediments in this study were very low, compared with ER-L (effect range-low) and TEL (threshold effects level) among sediment quality guideleines (SQGs) applied in foreign countries, such as USA, Canada, and Australia, etc), indicating that their biological effects on the bottom organisms in marine environment were expected to be very low.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.367-375
• /
• 2007

Critical chloride content for corrosion initiation is a crucial parameter in determining the durability and integrity of reinforced concrete structures, however, the value is still ambiguous. Most of the studies reporting critical threshold chloride content have involved the experimental measurement of the average amount of the total chloride content at arbitrary time. The majority of these researches have not dealt with this issue combined with carbonation of concrete, although carbonation can significantly impact on critical threshold chloride content. Furthermore, the studies have tried to define the critical chloride content within the scope of their experimental concrete mix proportion at arbitrary time. However, critical chloride content for corrosion initiation is known to be affected by a lot of factors including cement content, type of binder, chloride binding, concentration of hydroxyl ions, and so on. It is necessary to define the unified formulation to express the critical chloride content for various mix proportions of concrete. The purpose of this study is to establish an analytical formulation of the critical chloride content of concrete. In this formulation, affecting factors, such as mix proportion, environment, chemical evolution of pore solution with elapsed time, carbonation of concrete and so on are taken into account. Based on the Gouda's experimental results, critical chloride content is defined as a function of $[Cl^-]$ vs. $[OH^-]$ in pore solution. This is expressed as free chloride content with mass unit to consider time evolution of $[OH^-]$ content in pore solution using the numerical simulation programme of cementitious materials, HYMOSTRUC. The result was compared with other experimental studies and various codes. It is believed that the approach suggested in this study can provide a good solution to determine the reasonable critical chloride content with original source of chloride ions, for example, marine sand at initial time, and sea water penetration later on.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.149-155
• /
• 2015

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum progesterone (P4) levels on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration and the pregnancy rate among women undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (ICSI-ET) using a flexible antagonist protocol. Methods: This prospective study included 200 IVF and ICSI-ET cycles in which a flexible antagonist protocol was used. The patients were divided into five distinct groups according to their serum P4 levels at the time of hCG administration (0.80, 0.85, 0.90, 0.95, and 1.00 ng/mL). The clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) was calculated for each P4 interval. Statistically significant differences were observed at a serum P4 level of 0.9 ng/mL. These data suggest that a serum P4 concentration of 0.9 ng/mL may represent the optimal threshold level for defining premature luteinization (PL) based on the presence of a significant negative impact on the CPR. Results: The CPR for each round of ET was significantly lower in the PL group defined using this threshold (25.8% vs. 41.8%; p=0.019), and the number of oocytes retrieved was significantly higher than in the non-PL group ($17.3{\pm}7.2$ vs. $11.0{\pm}7.2$; p=0.001). Elevated serum P4 levels on the day of hCG administration were associated with a reduced CPR, despite the retrieval of many oocytes. Conclusion: Measuring serum P4 values at the time of hCG administration is necessary in order to determine the optimal strategy for embryo transfer.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.309-314
• /
• 1999

In order to produce high concentration of sodium gluconate, optimization of the fermentation conditions, such as glucose concentration, inoculum size, dissolved oxygen concentration and glucose feeding method, was examined. When the glucose concentration was maintained in the range of 30∼50 g/L during the batch fermentation, glucose conversion yield and productivity were 92.2% and 6.0 g/L/hr, respectively. In the case of the low concentration below 30 g/L, the yield decreased by about 25%. As the inoculum size increased above 20%(w/v), lag phase was shortened but the productivity decreased. The dissolved oxygen level of 60∼70% was shown to be the threshold point for 75% of increase in the productivity of sodium gluconate. Finally, optimal glucose feeding rate was determined using various feeding methods such as exponential feeding, feeding based on the average glucose consumption rate and was determined using various feeding methods such as exponential feeding, feeding based on the average glucose consumption rate and on the oxygen uptake rate and etc. Our result shows that glucose feeding, based on the oxygen uptake rate is a very simple, efficient and robust method, especially when oxygen is consumed as a substrate for the bioconversion. Using the above glucose feeding strategy under the optimized condition, 255 g/L of sodium gluconate concentration, 12 g/L/hr of productivity and 95% of glucose conversion yield were achieved with A. niger ACM53.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.392-399
• /
• 2012

This study was carried out to investigate the influence of molybden (Mo) concentrations in fertilizer solution on the growth of and nutrient uptake by domestically bred strawberries. Tissue analysis based on the dry weight was also conducted to determine the threshold levels in plants when Mo toxicity developed in strawberries. The leaf chlorophyll contents decreased lineally as Mo concentrations in the fertilizer solution were elevated. The differences among treatments in chlorophyll contents were statistically significant. The fresh and dry weights decreased significantly when the Mo concentrations in fertilizer solution were higher than 3.0 mM in 'Keumhyang' and 'Maehyang' strawberries and 1.0 mM in 'Seolhyang' strawberry. The elevation of Mo concentrations in fertilizer solution resulted in severe toxicity and crops developed the unique symptoms. The margin of older leaves became yellow and desiccated. Then, the margin of leaf blade rapidly became bronze colored and died as the symptoms spread up the plants. The interveinal area of the young leaves became yellowing. The elevation of Mo concentrations in fertilizer solution did not influence the tissue P, K, and Mg contents based on the dry weight. The tissue Ca contents were higher in 1.0 mM treatment than other treatments of 'Keumhyang' and 'Seolhyang' strawberries. The tissue Mo contents based on the dry weight of 'Keumhyang', 'Maehyang', and 'Seolyahng' strawberries were 76.5, 104.0, and 187.3 $mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$, respectively, in the 0.25 mM treatments and 4,155, 5,367, and 2,190 $mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$, respectively, in the 4.0 mM treatments. The contents increased lineally as Mo concentrations in fertilizer solution were elevated. When the concentration of Mo at which growth of crops were retarded by 10% is regarded as threshold level, the Mo contents based on dry weight of above ground plant tissue should be lower than 653.4, 686.2, and 589.7 $mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$, in 'Keumhyang', 'Maehyang', and 'Seolyahng' strawberries, respectively.