• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.450-459
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• 2011

Objectives: Biomarkers in urine are important in assessing exposures to environmental or occupational chemicals and for evaluateing renal function by exposure from these chemicals. Spot urine samples are needed to adjust the concentration of these biomarkers for variations in urine dilution. This study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of adjusting the urinary concentration of cadmium (uCd) and arsenic (uAs) by specific gravity (SG) and urine creatinine (uCr). Methods: We measured the concentrations of blood cadmium (bCd), uCd, uAs, uCr, SG and N-acetyl-${\beta}$-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity, which is a sensitive marker of tubular damage by low dose Cd exposure, in spot urine samples collected from 536 individuals. The value of uCd, uAs and NAG were adjusted by SG and uCr. Results: The uCr levels were affected by gender (p < 0.01) and muscle mass (p < 0.01), while SG levels were affected by gender (p < 0.05). Unadjusted uCd and uAs were correlated with SG (uCd: r = 0.365, p < 0.01; uAs: r = 0.488, p < 0.01), uCr (uCd: r = 0.399, p < 0.01; uAs: r = 0.484, p < 0.01). uCd and uAs adjusted by SG were still correlated with SG (uCd: r = 0.360, p < 0.01, uAs: r = 0.483, p < 0.01). uCd and uAs adjusted by uCr and modified uCr ($M_{Cr}$) led to a significant negative correlation with uCr (uCd: r = -0.367, p < 0.01; uAs: r = -0.319, p < 0.01) and $M_{Cr}$ (uCd: r = -0.292, p < 0.01; uAs: r = -0.206, p < 0.01). However, uCd and uAs adjusted by conventional SG ($C_{SG}$) were disappeared from these urinary dilution effects (uCd: r = -0.081; uAs: r = 0.077). Conclusions: $C_{SG}$ adjustment appears to be more appropriate for variations in cadmium and arsenic in spot urine.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.19-35
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• 2010

Objectives: This study was carried out to find the effects of Changchuldoin-tanggamibang (hereinafter referred to CDIT) on the inhibition of arthritis induced by collagen on DBA/1J mouse. Methods: The experimental mice were divided into four groups: normal group (Nr), control group (CIA-CT), methotrexate group (CIA-MTX), and Changchuldoin-tanggamibang group (CIA-CDIT). Cytotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, arthritis index, value of immunocytes in draining lymph node and paw joint, and rheumatoid factor (IgG, IgM) in serum were measured in vivo. Results: 1. Cytotoxicity against hFCs was not shown in any concentration. 2. Hepatotoxicity was low in the CDIT-treated group compared with the MTX group. 3. The arthritis index decreased significantly. 4. In total cell counts of DLN and paw joint, the cells in DLN increased significantly while there was a significant decrease in paw joint. 5. In lymph nodes, CD19+, CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD3+/CD8+, CD3+/CD69+, CD4+/CD25+, CD3+/CD49b+, and CD4+/CD44+ cells increased significantly, while B220+/CD23+, and CD11c+/MHCII+ cells decreased significantly. 6. In joints, CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD25+, and CD11b+/Gr-1+ cells decreased significantly. 7. The level of IgG decreased and the level of IgM significantly decreased compared with the control. 8. Anti-collagen II in serum decreased compared with the control. 9. Around the joint of the CDIT group, infiltration of inflammation, synovial hyperplasia, invasion of cytokine, of cartilage, deposition of collagen and synovial injury decreased compared with the control in histopathologic observation (HE, MT staining). Conclusions: Comparison of the results for this study showed that CDIT had immunomodulatory effects. We expect that CDIT could be used as a effective drug for not only rheumatoid arthritis but also another auto-immune diseases. Therefore, we have to survey continuously, looking for effective substances and mechanisms in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.119-132
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• 2013

Hosta longipes is one of the most popular ornamental perennials in use in Korea today, and is mainly used as a groundcover plant in urban shaded places. In this study, the pytoremediation effect of Hosta longipes was tested using four concentrations (Control, 100, 250 and $500mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$) of Cd, Pb and Zn in soil. The plants were planted in $300mm{\times}200mm{\times}250mm$ drainless-containers, which were filled with a artificial amended soil for 7 months. The results showed that the contents of heavy metals cadmium and lead in the shoot of Hosta longipes increased with increasing heavy metal concentration levels exception of zinc. The amount of zinc, cadmium, and lead accumulated in roots were increased with heavy metal concentration levels up in soil. The shoot/root ratios(TF; translocation factor) values were found to be more than 80% of total Zn, Cd, and Pb take up by Hosta longipes. These results indicated that root is the major part for accumulation of heavy metal. The removal contents of zinc, cadmium, and lead increased significantly with the increasing heavy metal concentration in the soil, which was planted with Hosta longipes. The heavy metal concentration accumulation in plant/soil ratios (BF; bioaccumulation factor) values for three metals were found to be more than 30% in cadmium and lead, but lower in zinc treatments. The different responses of Hosta longipes suggest that in heavy metal contaminated soils the plant adsorbs available metals depending on the concentration soils in which they are present. Therefore, this species can be an efficient phytoremediator for soils contaminated with cadmium and lead in urban shaded places.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.490-503
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• 2010

This study was carried out to know the effects of Gwanjul9-bang (hereinafter reffered to GJ9) on the inhibition of arthritis induced by collagen on DBA/1J mouse. For this purpose, GJ9 was orally administered to mouse with arthritis induced by collagen II. Cytotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, arthritis index, value of immunocyte in draining lymph node and paw joint, rheumatoid factor (IgG, IgM) in serum were measured in vivo. The cytotoxicity against hFCs was not measured in any concentration. The hepatotoxicity was low in GJ9 treated group compared with MTX group. The arthritis index was decreased significantly. In total cell counts of DLN and paw joint, the cells in DLN increased significantly while there was significantly decrease in paw joint. In lymph nodes, $CD19^+$, $CD3^+$, $CD4^+$, $CD3^+CD69^+$, $CD8^+$, $CD4^+CD25^+$, $CD3^+CD49b^+$, $CD4^+CD44^+$, $CD3^+CD8^+$ cells increased significantly, $B220^+CD23^+$cells decreased significantly. In joints, $CD3^+$, $CD4^+$, $CD4^+CD25^+$, $CD11b^+Gr-1^+$ cells decreased significantly. The levels of IgG and IgM was significantly decreased compared with control. Anti-collagen II in serum was significantly decreased compared with control. The degree of arthritis induced damage of joint of GJ9 group is slight compared with control group in histopathologic observation (Hematoxylin & Eosin, Masson's Trichrome). Comparison of the results for this study showed that GJ9 had immunomodulatory effects. So we expect that GJ9 should be used as a effective drugs for not only rheumatoid arthritis but also another auto-immune disease. Therefore we have to survey continuously in looking for the effective substance and mechanism in the future.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.300-309
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• 1977

The information related to the heavy metal pollution in the environment was obtained from studies on the effects of pH, phosphate and soil properties on the adsorption of metal ions (Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn) by soils. Three soil materials; soil 1 with low CEC (8.2 me/100g) and low organic carbon content (0.34%); soil 2 with high CEC (36.4 me/100g) and low organic carbon content (1.8%) and soil 3 with high CEC (49.9 me/100g) and high organic carbon content (14.7%) were used. Soils were adjusted to several pH's and equilibrated with metal ion mixtures of 4 different concentrations, each having equal equivalents of each metal ion (0.63, 1.88, 3.12 and 4.38 micromoles per one gram soil with and without 10 micromoles of phosphate per one gram soil). Reported here are the results of the equilibrium study on soil I. The rest of the results on soil 2 and soil 3 will be repoted subsequeutly. Generally higher metal ion concentration solution resulted in higher final metal ion concentrations in the equilibrated solution and phosphate had minimal effect except it tended to enhance removal of cadmium and zinc from equilibrated solutions while it tended to decrease the removal of copper and nickel. In soil 1, percentages of added metal ions removed at pH 5.10 were; Cu 97, Ni 69, Cd 63, and Zn 55, while increasing pH to 6.40, they were increased to Cu 90.9, Zn 99, Ni 96, and Cd 92 per As initial metal ion concentration increased, final metal ion concentrations in the equilibrated solution showed a relationship with pH of the system as they fit to the equation $p[M^{++}]=a$ pH+b where $p[M^{++}]=-log$[metal ion concentration in Mol/liter]. The magnitude of pH and soil effects were reflected in slope (a) of the equation, and were different among metal ions and soils. Slopes (a) for metal ions in the aqueous system are all 2. In soil 1 they were; Zn 1.23, Cu 0.99, Ni 0.69 and Cd 0.59 at highest concentration. The adsorption of Cd, Ni, and Zn in soil 1 could be represented by the Iangmuir isotherm. However, construction of the Iangmuir isotherm required the correction for pH differences.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.226-234
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• 2002

A sediment exposure experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of acid volatile sulfides (AVS) and simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) in sediments on the bioavailability and toxicity of Cd, Ni and Zn to a marine polychaetes Neanthes arenaceodentata. The test animals were exposed to contaminated sediments spiked by metal mixtures of Cd, Ni, Zn (0.5～15 $\mu$mol/g of total SEM) in low (～1 $\mu$mol/g), medium (～5 $\mu$mol/g) and high AVS series (～10 $\mu$mol/g) to determine bioaccumulation, mortality and individual growth rate in each treatment after 20 days. Cd and Zn bioaccumulation in test animals increased with increasing of overlying water (OW) concentration controlled by AVS. In contrast, Ni bioaccumulation increased with increase of SEM concentration. Mortalities and growth inhibitions of N. arenaceodentata observed in only treatments with ［SEM-AVS］>0, due to a high level of OW-Zn. With regard to the mortality, the 20-d LC5O value fur OW-Zn was 9.3(8.0$\pm$11.0) $\mu$M. The LOEC (Lowest Observed Effect Concentration) for Tissue-Zn was 7.8 $\mu$mol/g and the NOEC (No Observed Effect Concentration) was 6.2 $\mu$mol/g. Regarding the inhibition of individual growth rate, the LOEC fer Tissue-Zn was 5.9 $\mu$mol/g, and NOEC was 5.1 $\mu$mol/g. In this study, the toxicity of dissolved metals, especially for Zn, was overemphasized due to the reduced distribution coefficients (K$\_$d/s) of metals in the experimental sediments.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1794-1799
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• 2005

The present study was carried out to develop crosslinking of $\beta$-cyclodextrin ($\beta$-CD) using adipic acid, and to determine the optimum conditions of different factors ($\beta$-CD concentration, mixing temperature, mixing time and mixing speed) on cholesterol reduction from homogenized milk. Crosslinked $\beta$-CD was prepared with adipic acid. When the milk was treated with different conditions, the cholesterol removal rate was in the range of 92.1 to 93.1% with 1% $\beta$-CD addition, which were not significantly different among treatments. After cholesterol removal from milk, the used crosslinked $\beta$-CD was washed for cholesterol dissociation and reused. For recycling study, the cholesterol removal rate in the first trial was 92.5%, which was mostly same as that using new crosslinked $\beta$-CD. With repeated ten time trials using same sample, 81.4% of cholesterol was removed from milk. Therefore, the present study indicated that the optimum conditions for cholesterol removal using crosslinked $\beta$-CD were 1% $\beta$-CD addition and 10 min mixing with 400 rpm speed at 5$^{\circ}C$ with over 90% cholesterol removal. In addition, crosslinked $\beta$-CD made by adipic acid resulted in the effective recycling efficiency.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1468-1472
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• 2007

The present study was carried out to determine the optimum conditions of different factors (ratio of lard to water, ${\beta}$-CD concentrations, mixing temperature, mixing time and mixing speed) on cholesterol reduction from lard by using crosslinked ${\beta}$-CD. Crosslinked ${\beta}$-CD was prepared with adipic acid. When the lard was treated under different conditions, the range of cholesterol removal was 91.2 to 93.0% with 5% crosslinked ${\beta}$-CD, which was not significantly different among treatments. In a recycling study, cholesterol removal with crosslinked ${\beta}$-CD in the first trial was 92.1%, which was similar to that with new crosslinked ${\beta}$-CD. In up to eight time trials, over 90% of cholesterol removal was found. The present study indicated that the optimum conditions for cholesterol removal using crosslinked ${\beta}$-CD were a 1:3 ratio of lard to water, 5% crosslinked ${\beta}$-CD concentration, $40^{\circ}C$ mixing temperature, 1 h mixing time and 150 rpm mixing speed. In addition, crosslinked ${\beta}$-CD made by adipic acid resulted in an effective recycling efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.88-94
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• 2015

Bub1 is one of the spindle checkpoint proteins and plays a role in recruitment of the related proteins to kinetochore. Here, we studied the structural characteristic of the evolutionarily conserved 160 amino acid region in the N-terminus (hBub1 CD1), using Circular Dichroism (CD) and NMR. Our CD results showed that hBub1 CD1 is a highly helical protein and its structure was affected by pH: as pH was elevated to basic pH, the helical propensity increased. This could be related to the surface charge of the hBub1 CD1. However, the structural change did not largely depend on the salt concentration, though the thermal stability a little increased. The previous NMR analysis revealed that the hBub1 CD1 adopts eight helices, which is consistent with the CD result. Our result would be helpful for evaluating the molecular mechanism of the hBub1 CD1 and protein-protein interactions.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.118-126
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• 2012

To investigate the effect of aircraft traffic emissions on soil pollution, metal levels were analyzed for 8 metals (Fe, Cr, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Mn and Cd) from the vicinity of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in Delhi, India. The texture of the airport soil was observed to be sandy. Among the metals, Cd showed minimum concentration ($2.07{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$), while Fe showed maximum concentration ($4379{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$). The highest metal accumulation was observed at the landing site. Significant correlations were observed between metals and different textures (sand, silt, and clay) as well as with organic carbon (OC). The results indicate that grain size play a major role in OC retention in soil and subsequently helps in adsorption of metals in soil. M$\ddot{u}$ller's geoaccumulation index (I-geo) showed that airport soil was contaminated due to Cd and Pb with the pollution class 2 and 1, respectively. Pollution load index of the airport site was 1.34-3 times higher than the background site. The results of factor analysis suggested that source of the soil metal is mainly from natural weathering of soil, aircraft exhaust, and automobile exhaust from near by area. With respect to Dutch target values, the airport soils showed ~3 times higher Cd concentration. The study highlighted the future risk of enhanced metal pollution with respect to Cd and Pb due to aircraft trafficking.