• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.305-311
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• 2023

Background: The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER)'s classification of and airborne fraction ratio for consumer chemical products (CCP) does not reflect the characteristics of various product classifications. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to reclassify the types of spray products according to the diverse spray characteristics of CCPs to evaluate the airborne fraction ratio of representative spray types and to compare them with previous CCPs types and airborne fraction ratios. Methods: One thousand seven hundred two products were selected through market research, and 932 newly reported products were selected. After that, 200 were selected to evaluate products with potential inhalation exposure. After classifying six product types that are expected to show differences in the airborne fraction ratio according to the type of product, a final 38 products were selected for use in the airborne fraction ratio through random sampling. Results: CCP has been reclassified from two to six types so that the characteristics of all products are well-reflected. The NIER simply had two airborne fraction ratios, but the results of experiments with six types of products showed a significant difference in values (p<0.01). Airborne fraction ratios of propellant general foam, pump general aerosol, and pump trigger foam in spray type, which were not previously present in NIER, were 7.1%, 24.4%, and 3.5%, respectively. Conclusions: For the diversified types of CCPs, the newly proposed classification was more appropriate than the existing NIER classification. The airborne fraction ratio was also different for each type, so a new value was suggested.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.297-304
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• 2023

The rapid advancement of the high-tech electronics industry has led to a significant increase in high-concentration ammonia wastewater. Various methods have been attempted to reliably treat wastewater containing high concentrations of ammonia, but no successful technology has yet been developed and applied. In this study, the removal efficiency and characteristics of ammonia nitrogen was evaluated according to changes in temperature, air loading rate, and liquid loading rate using a closed circulation countercurrent packed tower type demonstration facility for wastewater containing high concentrations of ammonia generated in the high-tech electronics industry. The temperature was varied while maintaining operating conditions of a wastewater flowrate of 20.8 m³ h^-1 and an air flow rate of 18,000 Nm³ h^-1. The results showed that at temperatures of 45,50,55, and 60℃, the removal efficiencies of ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) were 87.5%, 93.4%, 96.8%, and 98.7%, respectively. It was observed that temperature had the most significant impact on the removal efficiency of NH₃-N under these conditions. As the air loading rate increases, the removal rate also increases, but the increase in removal efficiency is not significant because droplets from the absorption tower flow into the stripping tower. Even if the liquid loading rate was changed by ±30%, the removal rate did not change significantly. This does not mean that the removal rate was unaffected, but was believed to be due to the relatively high air load rate. Through demonstration research, it was confirmed that ammonia stripping is a reliable technology that can stably treat high-concentration ammonia wastewater generated in the high-tech electronics industry.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.227-235
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• 2024

Hepatocyte damage caused by medications or herbal products is one of the important problem when these compounds are chronically administrated. Thus, improving hepatocyte survival during treatment offers a wide range of opportunities. Valproic acid (VPA), a branched short-chain fatty acid derived from naturally occurring valeric acid, is commonly used to treat epilepsy and seizures. Although VPA exerts numerous effects in cancer, HIV therapy, and neurodegenerative disease, its effects on the liver and its mechanism of action have not been fully elucidated. Here, we demonstrated that VPA caused moderate liver cell toxicity and apoptosis. Interestingly, VPA treatment increased transcription levels of PPAR alpha (PPAR-α) and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in murine (Hepa1c1c7) hepatoma cells in a time and concentration dependent manner. VPA-induced FGF21 expression was significantly weaker under PPAR-α silencing condition than in cells transfected with non-targeting control siRNA. Subsequent experiments showed that cell viability was significantly lowered when the FGF21 signaling pathway was blocked by FGF receptor antagonist. Finally, we further determined that AMPK phosphorylation was not responsible for VPA-induced FGF21 expression and PPAR-a increments. These results indicate that increases of FGF21 expression alleviate VPA-induced hepatic toxicity, thereby making FGF21 a potential biomarker for predicting liver damage during VPA treatments.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2024

Background: The use of scented candles and incense sticks, both of which are household products that are burned for indoor deodorization and calming effects, is increasing. Fine dust has been designated as a group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) affect air pollution and can cause diseases. Objectives: This study aims to determine the effect on indoor air quality by measuring PM_2.5 and VOCs generated when burning scented candles and incense sticks. Methods: Scented candles and incense sticks were selected as household products to burn. As for the target sample, top-selling products (five types of scented candles, five types of incense sticks) were purchased online. The PM_2.5 concentration according to time was measured immediately next to the sample and three meters away from each other in an enclosed space using a real-time aerosol photometer. VOCs were collected as samples under the same conditions using Tenax tubes and were quantitatively analyzed by TD-GC/MS. Results: In the case of scented candles, the concentration of PM_2.5 did not increase during combustion and after being extinguished by placing a cover on the candle. For the incense sticks, the concentration of PM_2.5 averaged 1,901.27 ㎍/m³. After burning scented candles and incense sticks, some VOCs concentrations were increased such as ethyl acetate and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene). Conclusions: Therefore, when using scented candles, extinguishment by placing a cover on the candle can be expected to reduce PM_2.5. It is advisable to avoid using incense sticks because PM_2.5 concentration increases from the start of combustion.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.419-424
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• 1998

Removal of monochloropropanediol (MCPD) and improvement of quality of the soy-sauce made from acid-hydrolyzate of defatted soy protein (SAHSP) were examined by fermenting the soy-sauce with soy-sauce koji or koji plus Pediococcus soya or/and Saccharomyces rouxii. The overall fermentation process performed in this work consisted sequentially of autodigestion of soy-sauce koji $(at\;45^{\circ}C\;for\;12\;days)$, lactic acid fermentation $(at\;30^{\circ}C\;for\;14\;days\;in\;S3\;and\;S4)$, ethanol fermentation $(at\;30^{\circ}C\;for\;14\;days\;in\;S2\;and\;S4)$,and aging $(at\;25^{\circ}C\;for\;20\;days)$. At the end of the autodigestion period, the highest MCPD removal (from the initial 38.6 ppm to 1.3 ppm) was observed in the S-2. Reducing sugar contents of the S-2 and S-4 sharply decreased from the 30th day of incubation, from the initial concentration of about 5.0% to less than 0.5% at the end of the process. Total soluble nitrogen content of all the soy-sauce products slightly increased during the overall fermentating period.The level of free glutamic acid, a major amino acid that is known to determine the taste of soy-sauce was determined to be an average value of $1270{\sim}1323\;mg/100\;mL$ of soy-sauce. The results of sensory evaluation of the fermented SAHSPs show that qualities of the S-2 and S-4 samples are nearly on the same level with that of the commercially fermented soy-sauce (p<0.05). This result suggests that the fermentation process in this work, especially the process performed with S. rouxii has a good effect for removing MCPD from SAHSP and also for improving quality of the SAHSP product.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.449-455
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• 2013

Human skin is constantly exposed to environmental conditions such as UV rays, polluted air, and chemical products. UV rays, in particular, affect skin in many ways causing wrinkles, fine wrinkles, rough skin, and xeroderma through a skin aging process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-wrinkling effect of Juniperus rigida Sieb., derived from a common cedar tree found the world over. Measuring the elastase to investigate wrinkling efficacy, it was shown that at a concentration level of $1,000{\mu}g/ml$ of the two extracts, the water extract exhibited a lower than 10% inhibition activity, while the ethanol extract exhibited a 68.5% inhibition activity. Collagenase inhibition activity in the water extract and ethanol extract were 44.9% in the former and 97.2% in the latter extract, which in the case of the ethanol extract, is similar to ascorbic acid (99.6%). Moreover, measuring the biosynthesis of collagen by fibroblast, a concentration level of $50{\mu}g/ml$ of ethanol extract produced 151.52% of biosynthetic promotion, proving that the ethanol extract acts as a superb anti-wrinkling agent. The result of an investigation conducted on the influence of the ethanol extract on MMP-1 caused by UVA showed that at a concentration level of $1,00{\mu}g/ml$ of the ethanol extract of J. rigida Sieb a 67.1% inhibition activity was noted. At a concentration level of $50{\mu}g/ml$ of the ethanol extract of J. rigida Sieb a 35% and 39% inhibition ratio to MMP-1 protein and mRNA were observed respectively, thereby restraining the appearance of the collagen breakdown enzyme MMP-1 and wrinkle creation by skin photo-aging.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.467-474
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• 2014

Preliminary design in chemical process furnishes economic feasibility through calculation of both mass balance and energy balance and makes it possible to produce a desired product under the given conditions. Through this design stage, the process possesses unchangeable characteristics, since the materials, reactions, unit configuration, and operating conditions were determined. Unique characteristics could be very economic, but it also implies various potential risk factors as well. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to design process considering both economics and safety by integrating process simulation and quantitative risk analysis during preliminary design stage. The target of this study is LNG liquefaction process. By the simulation using Aspen HYSYS and quantitative risk analysis, the design variables of the process were determined in the way to minimize the inherent explosion risks and operating cost. Instead of the optimization tool of Aspen HYSYS, the optimization was performed by using stochastic optimization algorithm (Covariance Matrix Adaptation-Evolution Strategy, CMA-ES) which was implemented through automation between Aspen HYSYS and Matlab. The research obtained that the important variable to enhance inherent safety was the operation pressure of mixed refrigerant. The inherent risk was able to be reduced about 4~18% by increasing the operating cost about 0.5~10%. As the operating cost increases, the absolute value of risk was decreased as expected, but cost-effectiveness of risk reduction had decreased. Integration of process simulation and quantitative risk analysis made it possible to design inherently safe process, and it is expected to be useful in designing the less risky process since risk factors in the process can be numerically monitored during preliminary process design stage.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.39-52
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• 2014

Use of vision and audition for video reality has made much advancement. However use of olfaction, which is effective in inducing emotion, has not yet been realized due to technical limitations and lack of basic research. In particular it is difficult to fabricate many odors required for each different video. One way to resolve this is to discover clusters of odors of similar smell and to use representative odor for each cluster. This research explored clusters of odors based on pairwise similarity ratings. 300 diverse odors were first collected and sorted them into 11 categories. We selected 152 odors based on their frequency, preference, and concreteness. Participants rated similarity on 1,018 pairs of odors from selected odors and the results were analyzed using multi-dimensional scaling (MDS). Based on the idea that low odor concreteness would support valid use of representative odor, the MDS results are presented from low to high smell concreteness. First, flowers, plants, fruits, and vegetables was classified under the easy categories to use representative odor due to their low smell concreteness (Figure 1). Second, chemicals, personal cares, physiological odors, and ordinary places was classified under the careful categories of using it due to their intermediate concreteness (Figure 2). Finally, food ingredients, beverages, and foods was classified under the difficult categories to use it because of their high concreteness (Figure 3). The results of this research will contribute to reduction of cost and time in odor production and provision of realistic media service to customers at reasonable price.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.261-266
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• 2012

It is common to use many experiment animals to evaluate the toxicity of chemicals including pesticides. For protecting animal, the concepts of 3R (Reduction, Replacement, Refinement) were introduced and in vitro alternatives methods actively have been developed all over the world. Many experimental animals for toxicological tests have been used, so that it is important to establish the alternative methods. In this study, the alternative method using reconstituted human skin model (Keraskin$^{TM}$) was conducted for classification of skin irritation on pesticides. Sixteen formulations selected on the basis of the degree of irritation were treated by Keraskin$^{TM}$ test. The percent of cell viability was measured into the culture medium collected after treatment of the pesticides for 24-72 hrs. The skin irritations of formulations were evaluated by the cell viability. In this study, The 4 formulations with mild irritation in rabbits were evaluated as nonirritant, the 6 formulations with moderate and severe irritation were evaluated as irritant in human skin model test. We suggest that the alternative test using Keraskin$^{TM}$ model could be used as toxicity evaluation for primary irritation index (P.I.I.) score of greater than or equal to 2.1 of pesticides. The further studies should be required to apply for hazardous assessment of pesticides on alternative skin irritation methods because of the interindividual variability of the sensitivity of skin irritation on pesticides.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2007

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was chemically synthesized using the alkaline isomerization method of com oil. CLA-TG was synthesized by reaction with sodium methoxide. Five different treatments were devised based on differences in the amount of CLA-TG added into the pressed han. for controls, 10% of pork back fat among the total component was only added without any CLA-TG. For the first treatment, 5% of CLA-TG among the lard component added into the press ham was replaced. For the 2nd, 3rd and 4th treatments, 10%, 15% and 20% of CLA-TG was respectively replaced. Pressed ham manufactured using CLA-TG was vacuum packaged and then stored for 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days at $4^{\circ}C$. Samples were analyzed for chemical composition, physico-chemical properties (pH, color), and texture characteristics. Typical chemical composition characteristics (moisture, crude protein, crude fat) were not significantly different between controls and CLA-TG treatment groups. Crude fat content of CLA-TG treatment groups was significantly lower than that of controls (p<0.05). pH values of controls was higher than that of CLA-TG treatment groups. The pH of control and CLA-TG treatment groups increased significantly as the storage period increased (p<0.05). Meat color (CIE $L^*,\;b^*$) of CLA-TG treatment groups was higher than that of controls. $a^*$ values were decreased by replacement of CLA-TG, but appeared to be unaffected by storage length. There was no significant difference in texture between controls and CLA-TG treatment groups. Based on these findings, we conclude that the physico-chemical properties and texture characteristics of manufactured pressed ham were not affected by CLA-TG addition. Also, our results indicate that high-quality pressed ham can be manufactured with CLA accumulation.