• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.185-195
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• 2000

Vascular diseases are significant complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), and the endothelial cells may play a pivotal role in the development of vascular disease in DM. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) released from endothelium is a potent vasoconstrictor peptide and circulating level of ET-1 is increased in a variety of disease states. The purpose of this study was to determine the changes of responsiveness to ET-1 in DM, and we experimented on the changes in the ET-1-induced contraction, levels of nitrite and lipid peroxidation, and ET-1 immunoreactivity in aorta from streptozotocin-induced DM rats. DM was induced by single injection of streptozotocin (55 mg/kg, i.p.). The immunoreactive ET-1 levels in endothelial layer of thoracic aorta were much higher in DM rats than control rats. Nitrite in tissue homogenate was decreased and plasma nitrite was increased in DM rats. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly increased in DM rats and cGMP was not significantly different between control and DM rats. ET-1 produced concentration- dependent contractile responses that are significantly attenuated in DM rats compared to controls. In the presence of selective $ET_A$ receptor antagonist BQ610, the maximum contraction was decreased and the concentration ratios for BQ610 yielded $pA_2$ values of 7.3 (slope, 0.65) in control rats, whereas BQ610 had no antagonistic effect on ET-1-induced contraction in DM rats. However, pretreatment with BQ788, an $ET_B$ receptor antagonist, maximum response was decreased and the dose-response curves for ET-1 were shifted to the right in both groups and $pA_2$ values were 7.9 and 7.7 (slope, 1.05 in control and DM rats), respectively. IRL 1620 and sarafotoxin S6c, $ET_B$ agonists, induced relaxation in control rats but not in DM rats. These results indicate that endothelial cell dysfunction and enhanced immunoreactivity of ET-1 have been found in DM rat and ET-1-induced contraction was attenuated in DM rat. These attenuated responses might be at least in part caused by the alteration of $ET_A$ receptor properties (e.g. desensitization), and partly related with an alteration in intracellular mechanism for contraction to ET-1.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.117-123
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• 2010

Plutonium is by far the most important of the transuranic elements which have been released into the environment due to radio-toxicity and long term radiation effects on humans. And Pu isotope ratio ($^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$) is of great interest because this ratio is used as a fingerprint for different sources. Mass spectrometry has been used as an useful atom counting technique with several advantages over decay counting techniques for the determination of Pu isotopes. It enables a determination of Pu isotope ratio in the environmental samples with a low detection limit and a short determination time. An ICP-MS is the representative mass spectrometry for Pu determination. In this study, the precision of $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$ isotope ratio was improved by using 4 multiple ion counters of MC-ICP-MS. The detection limit of $^{239}Pu$ and $^{240}Pu$ were $0.10\;fg\;ml^{-1}$ ($0.24\;{\mu}Bq\;ml^{-1}$), $0.12\;fg\;ml^{-1}$ ($0.97\;{\mu}Bq\;ml^{-1}$), respectively. The relative standard deviation of $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$ isotope ratio was less than 1 % in trace level. The various reference materials (seawater, soil and sediment) were analyzed to verify this method and their analytical results were in good agreement with the certified (or recommended value) value.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.138-142
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• 2013

This study was conducted to measure the uranium concentrations in urine of some members of the general public in Busan and Daejeon and to assess the annual committed effective doses from uranium analysis of daily excretion. As a result, the ranges of total uranium concentrations in the urine for the residents in Busan and Daejeon were found to be 0.556 - 1.53 $mBq\;L^{-1}$ and 2.18 - 4.55 $mBq\;L^{-1}$, respectively. It was noted that the uranium concentrations for the residents in Daejeon were observed to be higher than those for the residents in Busan. This result assumes that the uranium concentrations in the urines for the residents in Daejeon are probably related to the high uranium concentrations contained in the drinking water of Daejeon city. The bedrock of Daejeon, known as granitic rocks formed in the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic Era, contains high uranium contents. Also, results showed no significant correlation with age or sex. The ranges of annual committed effective doses from ingestion of uranium for the residents in Busan and Daejeon were calculated to be 0.472-1.41 ${\mu}Sv$ and 1.99-4.15 ${\mu}Sv$, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.437-451
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to estimate the forecast of bed demand for institutional long-term care for the elderly persons in Taegu Metropolitan City. The study subject was the total 1,877 elderly persons over age 65 living in Taegu. Among them 1,441 elderly persons were sampled from community and 436 were from the elderly admitted 5 general hospitals. Data collection was carried out by interview from 25 August to 25 December 1997. The measuring instrument of this study was the modified tool of CARE, MAI, PCTC, and ADL which were examined for validity and reliability. In order to forecast bed demand of Nursing Home, this study revised prediction techniques suggested by Robin. The results were as follows : 1. OLDi of Taegu City were 122,202 by the year 1998 and number of Low-Income Elderly Persons were 3,210. 2. The Level I : Senior Citizen Home $ADEMi=\frac{AQi * ASTAYi}{365 * AOCUi}$. AQi = OLDi * LADLi * NASi * ALONi * LIADLi * AUTILi. Predicted number of bed demand for Home Based. Elderly Persons were 4,210 and Low-Income Elderly Persons were 1,081 and Total Elderly Persons were 5,291 by the year 1998, 6,343 by the year 2000 and 8,351 by the 2005. 3. The Level II : Nursing Home $BDEMi=\frac{(BQ1i+BQ2i) * BSTAYi}{365 * BOCUi}$. BQ1i = OLDi * HADLi * ALONi * HIADLi BQ2i = OLDi * HADLi * FAMi * OBEDi Predicted number of demand for Total Elderly Persons were 668 by the year 1998, 802 by the year 2000 and 1,055 by the 2005. 4. The Level III : Nursing Home $CDEMi=\frac{COLDi * HDISi * CUTILi * CSTAYi}{365 * COCUi}+OQi/10$ Predicted number of demand for Total Elderly Persons were 1,899 by the year 1998, 2,311 by the year 2000 and 3,003 by the 2005. 5. Predicted number of bed demand of long-term care facilities in the year 1998 according to Levels were 4.3% among elderly persons in Taegu by Level I, 0.5% by Level II and 1.5% by Level III. Number of elderly persons in current long-term care facilities were 458 in LevelI I,284 in Level II. 6. Deficit number of bed demand of long-term care facilities were 4,833 in Level I, 384 in Level II, 1,899 in Level III for the elderly persons in Taegu Metropolitan City.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.161-166
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• 2005

In KAERI, about 3,100 drums containing soil have been stored. The soils were generated from the decommissioning process of Seoul office in 1988. Those soils occupy about $27\%$ of the capacity of the radioactive waste storage facility and make it difficult to maintain the storage facility. The major radioactive nuclides contained in the soils were expected to be Co-60 and Cs-137. As 16 years have passed, the radioactivity of those nuclides have decayed a lot. In this study, as a basis of regulatory clearance, radionuclides and radioactivity concentration of soils were analyzed. As a result, there are only Co-60 and Cs-137 in soils as ${\gamma}-emitters$. The total concentration of ${\gamma}-emitters$ in soil is analyzed as about $0.01\;{\sim}\;0.12$ Bq/g. As the soils are expected to be regulatory cleared in 2009, those concentrations will decay to be less than 0.1 Bq/g. This concentration can be meet the regulatory criteria suggested by IAEA. The regulatory clearance will be proceeded based on not only the assessment results of environmental influence but also related regulations.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: A preliminary investigation of the radon ($^{222}Rn$) concentration has been conducted, employing solid-state nuclear-track detectors (SSNTD) and a continuous radon monitor (CRM), for fourteen randomly selected agricultural greenhouses in Jeju Island, where the underground-air was used for air conditioning and $CO_2$ supplement. METHODS AND RESULTS: The SSNTD was used to measure the average radon concentration for three months and the CRM was used for an instantaneous measurement. In order to obtain the radon concentration of a greenhouse, the SSNTDs were placed at a number of evenly distributed points inside the greenhouse and the mean of the measured values was taken. In addition, in order to assess the radon concentration of the underground-air itself, measurement was also made at the borehole of the underground-air in each agricultural facility, employing both the SSNTD and CRM. It is found that the radon concentration of the greenhouses ranges higher than those not using the underground-air and the average of Korean dwellings. While the radon concentration of most agricultural facilities is still lower than the reference level (1,000 Bq/$m^3$) recommended by the International Radiation Protection Committee (ICRP), three facilities at one site show higher concentrations than the reference level. The three-month-averaged radon concentration and the instantaneous radon concentration of the underground-air itself ranges 1,228- 5,259 and 3,322-17,900 Bq/$m^3$, respectively, and regional variation is more significant. CONCLUSION: From this results, radon concentration of the underground-air is assumed that it is associated with the geological characteristics and the boring depth of the region located of their.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.209-215
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• 2011

In order to investigate the soil-to-plant transfer factor (TF) of $^{99}Tc$ for Korean major upland crops (soybean, radish and Chinese cabbage), pot experiments were performed in a greenhouse. Soils were collected from four upland fields (two for soybean and two for radish and Chinese cabbage) around Gyeongju radioactive-waste disposal site. Three to four weeks before sowing, dried soils were mixed with a $^{99}Tc$ solution and the mixtures were put into pots and irrigated. TF values were expressed as the ratios of the $^{99}Tc$ concentrations in plants (Bq $kg^{-1}$-dry or fresh) to those in soils (Bq $kg^{-1}$-dry). There was no great difference in the TF value between soils. The TF values for soybean seeds were extremely lower than those for the straws, indicating a very low mobility of $^{99}Tc$ to seeds. As representative TF values of $^{99}Tc$, $1.8{\times}10^{-1}$, $1.2{\times}10^1$, $3.2{\times}10^2$ and $1.3{\times}10^2$ (for dry plants), arithmetic means for two soils, were proposed for soybean seeds, radish roots, radish leaves and Chinese cabbage leaves, respectively. In the case of the vegetables, proposals for fresh plants were also made. The proposed values are not sufficiently representative so successive updates are needed.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.648-654
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• 1993

$[M(cyclam)X_2]Y(M=Co^{3+},\;Fe^{3+},\;Mn^{3+}\;:\;X=Cl-^,\;Br^-,\;NCS^-\;:\;Y=Cl^-,\;Br^-,\;NCS^-),\;[Co(trans-14-diene)X_2]Y(X=Cl^-,\;Br^-\;:\;Y=ClO_4^-)\;and\;[Co(trans-14-diene)](ClO_4)_2$ were able to activate an molecular oxygen under sodium borohydride. 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol and 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol reacted with activated molecular oxygen to give 2,4-tert-butyl-1,6-benzoquinone(BQ) and 3,5,3',5'-tetra-tert-butyldiphenoquinone(DPQ). The saturated tetraazamacrocyclic complexes, $[Co(cyclam)X_2]Y$, were more an effective catalyst than $[Co(trans-14-diene)X_2]Y$ the unsaturated complexes in the formation of BQ and DPQ. The mole ratio of $O_2$ vs. catalyst $(O_2/M)$ for $[Co(cyclam)X_2]Y$ and [Co(trans-14-diene)X_2]Y$ was 1/1, while it was 1/2 for $[M(cyclam)Cl_2]Cl(M=Fe(III),\;Mn(III))$. The results suggested that Co(III)-macrocyclic complexes activated molecular oxygen as superoxolike ${O_2}^-$ and $[M(cyclam)Cl_2]Cl(M=Fe(III),\;Mn(III))$ activated that as peroxolike $O_2^{2-}$.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2004

Vertical distributions of $^{137}Cs\;and\;^{90}Sr$ activities are studied for the soils of six areas, Korea (Gori, Yeonggwang, Uljin, Weolseong, Goseong and Jeju). The soils from 6 areas are at geographically different locations with the different environmental conditions and parent rook. The activities of $^{137}Cs\;and\;^{90}Sr$ vary N.D.(below detection limit) to 185 Bq/kg and 2.79 - 8.06 Bq/kg, respectively. Activities of $^{137}Cs\;and\;^{90}Sr$ show the highest value at the surface soil and decrease with depth. $^{137}Cs$ activities at the top surface soils are positively correlated with annual precipitation and organic carbon content with little relationship with mean grain size and the clay content. The highest $^{137}Cs$activities are found at the Jeju site, followed by the Goseong site of which soils have much different parent rock and textural properties. Though the activities of $^{137}Cs\;and\;^{90}Sr$ on the basis of dry weight are higher in Jeju soils than in Goseong soils, their inventories are similar in both soils due to their textural differences.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.347-356
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• 2010

Bauxite is a main raw material for the production of alumina and aluminum hydroxide in the processing plant of KC company. It is a NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials), and its waste, red mud, is a TENORM (Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials). The purpose of the geochemical and mineralogical investigations of the bedrock and soils in and around the plant, a large NORM source, was to provide basic data for measuring the radiation dose and protecting from radioactive hazards. Soils were mixtures of minerals derived from the country rock (quartz, feldspar, mica, kaolin, gibbsite, and sepiolite) and bauxite (hematite, boehmite, and calcite) of open-air storage. Average U and Th contents of the soil samples were 4.7 ppm and 23 ppm, respectively, indicating somewhat Th anomaly. The average concentrations of radionuclides are $^{40}K$ 100~1,433 Bq/kg, $^{226}Ra$ anomaly in the red mud open-air storage. Soil external hazard indices range from 0.10 to 1.66 with an average of 0.63. Although most of the indices are below 1.0 that is a regulation value, those of 4 samples of total 41 soil samples exceed 1.0, requiring further detailed investigation.