• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.146-152
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• 2005

The objective of present study was to investigate the effect of onion extracts on mercuryinduced cytotoxicity, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities in primary monolayer cultures of rat hepatocytes. Primary cultures of rat hepatocytes were incubated for 6 hr in the presence of various concentrations (0, 1, 5, 10, 30 or 50 ppm) of $HgCl_2$. Cytotoxicity and cell viability were determined by measuring glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) activity, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) value. Lipid peroxidation w as evaluated using thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay. Effects of onion extract on antioxidant system were determined by measuring catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GSH-Rd) activities as well as DPPH free radical scavenging activity. $HgCl_2$ at the concentration of 10 ppm increased GOT activity and TBARS concentration but decreased %MTT reduction, whereas $HgCl_2$ at the concentration of 30 ppm increased LDH activity, representing that $HgCl_2$ caused cytotoxicity and lipid peroxidation in dose-dependent manner, $HgCl_2$ at the concentration of 30 ppm significantly decreased catalase, GSH-Px and GSH-Rd activities. When primary cultures of rat hepatocytes were incubated with various concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 or 0.3 mg/ml) of onion extract for 6 hr in the presence of 30 ppm of $HgCl_2$, onion extracts at the concentration of 0.05 mg/ml decreased GOT activity, but increased %MTT reduction by 30 ppm of $HgCl_2$. $HgCl_2-induced$ LDH activity and TBARS concentration were decreased by onion extract at the concentration of 0.01 mg/ml. Taken together, onion extract prevented H$HgCl_2-induced$ hepatocyte injury and lipid peroxidation. Onion extracts at the concentration of 0.1 mg/ml almost or completely inhibited $HgCl_2-induced$ catalase and GSB-Px activities. GSH-Rd activity, however, was not affected by onion extract. Free radical scavengjing activity was increased as concentration of onion extract increased. Onion extract at the concentrion of 5 mg/ml possesed mote than 93% scavenging activity comparing to 100% radical scavenging activity by pyrogallol solution as a reference. These results demonstrate that onion extracts suppressed mercury-induced cytoctoxicity and lipid peroxidation by scavenging free radical and increasing catalase and GSH-Px activities.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.353-360
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• 2016

Effect of heavy metals(Cd, Cu, Zn) on the survival and population growth rates(PGR) of marine rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis were examined. B. plicatilis were exposed to Cd, Cu and Zn for 24 h to determine their survival and 72 h to determine their PGR. Survival rates in the control groups were greater than 90%. They were decreased with increasing concentrations of Cd, Cu and Zn. Survival rates were reduced in a concentration-dependent manner. Significant reduction in survival rates after exposure to Cd, Cu and Zn at concentration greater than 40.00, 0.13 and $10.00mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. PGR in the control groups were greater than 0.50. They were decreased with increasing concentrations of heavy metals. PGR were reduced in a concentration-dependent manner. Significant reduction in PGR after exposure to Cd, Cu and Zn occurred at concentration greater than 12.5, 0.06 and $1.00mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. The order of heavy metal toxicity based on PGR was Cu>Zn>Cd, with $EC_{50}$ (50% Effective Concentration) values of 0.12, 6.15 and $21.41mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. The lowest-observed-effective-concentrations(LOEC) of PGR after exposure to Cd, Cu and Zn were 12.50, 0.06 and $1.00mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. The No-observed-effective-concentrations(NOEC) of PGR after exposure to Cd, Cu and Zn were 6.25, 0.03 and $0.01mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively, in marine ecosystems have toxic effects on PGR of B. plicatilis. These results suggest that the PGR of B. plicatilis are useful tool to assess the effect of heavy metals on primary consumers in marine natural ecosystems.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 1980

TOK (2,4-Dichlolo-4'-nitrodiphenyl ether) was applied to two Korean soils possessing different physico-chemical properties at a certain concentration and incubated for a certain time under flooded conditions. The metabolites and the soil microorganisms involved in the degradation of TOK are studied. Chong Ju and Chung Ju soils treated with TOK at a concentration of 500 ppm and incubated for two, four, and six months at $30^{\circ}C$ yielded 4-chloro-4'-amino diphenyl ether, 2, 4-dichloro-4'-amino diphenyl ether(amino-TOK), N-[4'-(4-chloro-phenoxy)] phenyl acetamide, and N-[4'-(4-chloro-phenoxy)] phenyl formamide as the major metabolites. TOK underwent the reduction of nitrogroup to amino group, dechlorination, acetylation, and formylation. No cleavage at the ether linkage was recognized. TOK was more readily degraded in Chung Ju soil which is characterized by the higher pH (PH 6.43), clay loam in textural class, and the higher cation exchange capacity. The toxicity of TOK as a possible environmental contaminant is expected to be considerably reduced as a result of the above degradation Twelve strains of soil bacteria were isolated from the TOK-treated Chong Ju and Chung Ju soils. As a result of the incubation of TOK in pure cultures of the isolates, T-1-1 strain isolated from Chong Ju soil had almost no degradability, whereas T-2-3 strain turned out to be the most potent. The degradation of TOK by the isolates constituted mostly the reduction of the nitro group to amino group. The citrate buffer extract of Chung Ju soil reduced TOK more readily to amino-TOK than that of Chong Ju soil.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.303-310
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• 2007

Sweetpotato shoot tops (leaves, tips and petioles) are known to be very useful parts as vegetables because of their high nutritive values and great biomass yield. In this study, the phenolic compound contents, antibacterial activity, mutagenic activity, and antimutagenic activity were investigated in sweetpotato tips that were 10-15cm of shoot top including stems, petioles and tender leaves after sprout of storage roots. The study was done by extracting sweetpotato tips with 80% ethanol and the ethanol fraction was re-extracted with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and water. In ethyl acetate and butanol fractions, total phenolic compounds contained 95. 6mg/g extract and 69.3 mg/g extract, respectively, The antibacterial activity was measured using the paper disk method with concentrations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 mg/disk of butanol and ethyl acetate fractions against L. monocytogenes and S. Typhimurium strains. Higher doses of solvent extracts showed the higher antibacterial activities. In addition, 5, 10 and 20 mg/mL of the extracts were tested to determine the antibacterial activity in liquid culture. The sweetpotato leaf extract by ethyl acetate showed 1 log reduction compared to control after 24 hrs on Listeria monocytogenes, but 20 mg/ml of butanol extract completely inhibited the growth of the pathogen after 12 hrs. The extracts from ethyl acetate or butanol on Salmonella Typhimurium did less than 1 log reduction during cultivation compared to control. The numbers of S. Typhimirium TA98 and TA100 revertant colonies were 29-33 and 159-188 CFU/plate, respectively, indicating that solvent extracts were no mutagenic activity. The antimutagenic test was performed by adding direct mutagen 2-NF and MMS, and butanol and ethyl acetate showed antimutagenic effect. Thus, this study showed that sweetpotato tips had high phenolic contents and both antimicrobiol and antimutagenic properties. Sweetpotato tips would be good nutritive source because of their high nutrient content without any toxicity in consuming.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.743-749
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• 2010

Objective of this research was to investigate the effect of various potassium concentrations in fertilizer solution on growth of and nutrient uptake by 'Chugyang' eggplant ($Solanum$ $melongena$ L.). Tissue analyses were conducted to determine the threshold levels of potassium in plants when disorders develop for potassium. The lower leaves of K deficient plants became spotted, yellowing in color, and finally necrosis occurred. The necrosis spread inward and upward. K toxic plants developed necrotic spot at the margin of old leaves and the surface of old leaves were twisted. The tissue K contents in the most recently fully expanded leaves and dry weight of full above ground plant tissue at 35 days after transplanting showed linear and quadratic response to elevated K concentrations with the equation of y=1.127+0.3147x ($R^2$=0.8916) and y=14.92+2.2743x-$0.1402x_2$ ($R^2$=0.8659). When 10% reduction in dry weight set to threshold levels, optimum tissue K contents are in the range from 2.1 to 5.1%. The yield through 150 days after transplanting and tissue K contents at 150 days after transplanting also showed quadratic and linear responses to elevated potassium concentrations in fertigation solution with the equation of y=153.24+345.5x-$18.46x^2$ ($R^2$=0.8620) and y=0.9921+0.3860x ($R^2$=0.9611), respectively. When the 10% reduction in yield is set to threshold levels, the tissue K contents for maximum yield should be around 3.4% to 5.9% in most recently fully expanded leaves.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2017

Arsenic (As) has been considered as the most toxic one among various hazardous materials and As contamination can be caused naturally and anthropogenically. Major forms of arsenic in groundwater are arsenite [(As(III)] and/or arsenate [(As(V)], depending on redox condition: arsenite and arsenate are predominant in reduced and oxidized environments, respectively. Because arsenite is much more toxic and mobile than arsenate, there have been a number of studies on the reduction of its toxicity through oxidation of As(III) to As(V). This study was initiated to develop photocatalytic oxidation process for treatment of groundwater contaminated with arsenite. The performance of two types of light sources (UV lamp and UV LED) was compared and the feasibility of goethite as a photocatalyst was evaluated. The highest removal efficiency of the process was achieved at a goethite dose of 0.05 g/L. Based on the comparison of oxidation efficiencies of arsenite between two light sources, the apparent performance of UV LED was inferior to that of UV lamp. However, when the results were appraised on the basis of their emitting UV irradiation, the higher performance was achieved by UV LED than by UV lamp. This study demonstrates that environmentally friendly process of goethite-catalytic photo-oxidation without any addition of foreign catalyst is feasible for the reduction of arsenite in groundwater containing naturally-occurring goethite. In addition, this study confirms that UV LED can be used in the photo-oxidation of arsenite as an alternative light source of UV lamp to remedy the drawbacks of UV lamp, such as long stabilization time, high electrical power consumption, short lifespan, and high heat output requiring large cooling facilities.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2018

The utility of Bacillus spp. organisms for reduction of dissolved hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$) in white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) culture was tested with different combinations of Bacillus spp. microorganisms: combination A (B. subtilis + B. licheniformis); combination B (B. licheniformis + B. amyloliquefaciens); combination C (B. subtilis + B. licheniformis + B. amyloliquefaciens). Of these 3 combinations, C was effective in few hours after addition whereas B needed longer time to be effective. The $H_2S-reducing$ effect of combination C was dependent on the amount of microorganisms added to $H_2S-containing$ test solution. Exposure of white leg shrimp to $H_2S$ at 8 mg/L for 7 days led to survival of 80% and 1 mg/L for 14 days it was 82.5%. The survival rate was 97.5% when combination C was simultaneously added to shrimp tanks during $H_2S$ exposure at 1 mg/L for 14 days. It was demonstrated that combination C microorganisms (B. subtilis + B. licheniformis + B. amyloliquefaciens) can reduce dissolved $H_2S$ concentrations, and this effect can be utilized to protect white leg shrimp from $H_2S$ toxicity.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.451-474
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• 1993

Lidocaline if frequently administered as a component of an anesthetic : for local or regional nerve blocks, to mitigate the autonomic response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation, to suppress the cough reflex, and for antiarrythmic therapy. Diazepam dectease the potential central nervous system (CNS) toxicity of local anesthetic agents but may modify the sitmulant action of lidocaine in addition to their own cardiovascular depressant. The potential cardiovascular toxicity of local anesthetics may be enhanced by the concomitant administration of diazepam. This study was designed to investigate the effects of lidocaine dose and pretreated diazepam to cardiovascular system and plasma concentration of lidocaine. Lidocaine in 100 mcg/kg/min, 200 mcg/kg/min, and 300 mcg/kg/min was given by sequential infusion to dogs anesthetized with halothane-nitrous oxide (Group I). And in group II, after diazepam pretreatment, lidocaine was infused by same way when lidocaine was administered in 100 mcg/kg/min, the low plasma levels ($3.97{\pm}0.22-4.48{\pm}0.36$ mcg/ml) caused a little reduction in cardiovascular hemodynamics. As administered in 200 mcg/kg/min, 300 mcg/kg/min, the higher plasma levels ($7.50{\pm}0.66-11.83{\pm}0.59$ mcg/ml) reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP), cardiac index (CI), stroke index (SI), left ventricular stroke work index (LVSWI), and right ventricular stroke work index (PVSWI) and increased pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP), central venous pressure (CVP), systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI), but was associated with little changes of heart rate (HR), mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP), and pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI). When lidocaine with pretreated diazepam was administered in 100 mcg/kg/min, the low plasma level, the lower level than when only lidocaine administered, reduced MAP, but was not changed other cardiovascular hemodynamics. While lidocaine was infused in 200 mcg/kg/min, 300 mcg/kg/min in dogs pretreated diazepam, the higher plasma level ($7.64{\pm}0.79-13.79{\pm}0.82$ mcg/ml) was maintained and was associated with reduced CI, SI, LVSWI and incresed PAWP, CVP, SVRI but was a little changes of HR, MPAP, PVRI. After $CaCl_2$ administeration, CI, SI, SVRI, LVSWI was recovered but PAWP, CVP was rather increased than recovered. The foregoing results demonstrate that pretreated diazepam imposes no additional burden on cardiovascular system when a infusion of large dose of lidocaine is given to dogs anesthetized with halothanenitrous oxide. But caution may be advised if the addition of lidocaine is indicated in subjects who have impared autonomic nervous system and who are in hypercarbic, hypoxic, or acidotic states.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Earthworms are essential detritus feeders that play a vital role in the process of decomposition of organic matter and soil metabolism. The complex process of partial breakdown of organic matter and mixing with mucous and gut microbial flora in the form of earthworm cast results in the reduction of the toxicity. This study focused on the change of cast amount and pollutant contents before and after the eating of the organic waste and upland soil with the two species of earthworm. METHODS AND RESULTS: The two species of earthworms were compared to the cast production. In the upland soil material, the daily amount of worm's cast was 1.42 g in E. andrei and 0.40 g in A. agrestis. In the organic waste material, the cast of E. andrei was 0.78~0.83 g and the cast of A. agrestis. have not been collected because all earthworms died after the treatment. The heavy metals treated in the upland soil were evaluated the impact of the worm excretion. With the E. andrei, the cast production was decreased 0.1~0.8 times in zinc, 0.2~0.5 times in copper, and 0.1~0.7 times in cadmium compared to the control treatment according to the levels of concentration. With A. agrestis, the cast amount was decreased 0.3~1.1 times in zinc, 0.2~0.3 times in copper, and 0.1~2.1 times in cadmium, respectively. The changes of pollutant contents before and after the eating of the organic wastes with E. andrei were studied. In the treatment of the Alcohol Fermentation Processing Sludge and the Fruit Juice Processing Sludge, heavy metal content of the cast was increased 0.7~53.3% compared to the sludge materials. PAHs contents were decreased 50.1% in the cast of the Alcohol Fermentation Processing Sludge and 36.6% in the cast of the Fruit Juice Processing Sludge, respectively. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, although the A. agrestis was bigger than E. andrei in size and weight, the cast amount of A. agrestis was small. The two species of earthworm was less excretion with high concentration of heavy metals. While the heavy metals such as zinc, copper, and cadmium were considerably accumulated in the cast, the total compounds, PAHs were fairly decomposed. There results would provide us for restoring contaminated soil and cleaning organic wastes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.812-824
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• 2013

Reserpine, an anti-hypertensive drug, is able to positively modulate several phenotypes associated with $A{\beta}$ toxicity in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated into the therapeutic effects of reserpine on mammalian neurodegenerative disorders, and found that significant alteration of the key factors influencing AD was detected in Tg2576 mice after reserpine treatment for 30 days. The aggressive behavior of Tg2576 mice was significantly improved upon reserpine treatment, whereas their social contact was consistently maintained. Furthermore, the levels of $A{\beta}$-42 peptide in the hippocampus of the brain and blood serum were lower in the reserpine-treated group than in the vehicle-treated group. Among g-secretase components, the expression levels of PS-2, Pen-2, and APH-1 were slightly lower in reserpine-treated Tg2576 mice, although a significant change in nicastrin (NCT) expression was not detected. Furthermore, the serum level of nerve growth factor (NGF) increased in reserpine-treated Tg2576 mice compared with vehicle-treated mice. Among down-stream effectors of the NGF receptor TrkA signaling pathway, reserpine treatment induced elevation of TrkA phosphorylation and reduction of ERK phosphorylation. In addition, in the NGF receptor $p75^{NTR}$ signaling pathway, the expression levels of $p75^{NTR}$ and Bcl-2 were enhanced in reserpine-treated Tg2576 mice compared with vehicle-treated mice, whereas the expression level of RhoA declined. Overall, these results suggest that reserpine can help relieve AD pathogenesis in Tg2576 mice through downregulation of $A{\beta}$-42 deposition, alteration of ${\gamma}$-secretase components, and regulation of NGF metabolism.