• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.118-126
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• 2019

Background: Government conducts environmental radioactivity surveillance for verification purpose around nuclear facilities based on the Nuclear Safety Law and issues a surveillance report every year. This study aims to evaluate the short and the long-term fluctuation of radionuclides detected above MDC and their origins using concentration ratios between these radionuclides. Materials and Methods: Sample media for verification surveillance are air, rainwater, groundwater, soil, and milk for terrestrial samples, and seawater, marine sediment, fish, and seaweed for marine samples. Gamma-emitting radionuclides including $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, $^3H$, and $^{14}C$ are evaluated in these samples. Results and Discussion: According to the result of the environmental radioactivity verification surveillance in the vicinity of nuclear power facilities in 2017, the anthropogenic radionuclides were not detected in most of the environmental samples except for the detection of a trace level of $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, and $^{131}I$ in some samples. Radioactivity concentration ratios between the anthropogenic radionuclides ($^{137}Cs/^{90}Sr$, $^{137}Cs/^{239+240}Pu$, $^{90}Sr/^{239+240}Pu$) were similar to those reported in the environmental samples, which were affected by the global fallout of the past nuclear weapon test, and Pu atomic ratios ($^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$) in the terrestrial sample and marine sample showed significant differences due to the different input pathway and the Pu source. Radioactive iodine ($^{131}I$) was detected at the range of < $5.6-190mBq{\cdot}kg-fresh^{-1}$ in the gulfweed and sea trumpet collected from the area of Kori and Wolsong intake and discharge. A high level of $^3H$ was observed in the air (Sangbong: $0.688{\pm}0.841Bq{\cdot}m^{-3}$) and the precipitation (Meteorology Post: $199{\pm}126Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$) samples of the Wolsong nuclear power plant (NPP). $^3H$ concentration in the precipitation and pine needle samples showed typical variation pattern with the distance and the wind direction from the stack due to the gaseous release of $^3H$ in Wolsong NPP. Conclusion: Except for the detection of a trace level of $^{137}Cs$, $^{90}Sr$, Pu, and $^{131}I$ in some samples, anthropogenic radionuclides were below MDC in most of the environmental samples. Overall, no unusual radionuclides and abnormal concentration were detected in the 2017's surveillance result for verification. This research will be available in the assessment of environment around nuclear facilities in the event of radioactive material release.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.332-336
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• 2019

The use of ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy for foods is known to have a microbial inhibitory effect. UV-A having a longer wavelength than UV-C can be used for continuous or intermittent UV irradiation of food stored in containers or packages. Because UV-LED can be used effectively at a low price, this study reported the effect of UV-A 365 nm-LED on inhibiting Bacillus subtilis in accordance with the packaging conditions employed in daily use. The packaging materials were linear low-density polyethylene (LLD-PE), nylon/low density polyethylene (LDPE), polystyrene, and glass. When all packaging materials were treated with 365 nm UV-LED, B. subtilis was observed to remain inactive for 30-60 min. Further, compared with the control (-log 5), the survival rate of B. subtilis was -log 2.0-2.5 for nylon/LDPE and -log 2.58-3.61 for LLD-PE. These packaging materials showed an excellent inhibitory effect regardless of their thickness. Typically, a decrease in the viable cell count of more than 3 log indicates a 99.9% bactericidal effect. These results suggest that 365 nm UV-LED permeated the packaging material and inhibited bacterial growth.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2019

BACKGROUND: Many studies on artificial lighting have been recently performed to investigate its effect on agricultural products with good quality. This review was aimed at comparing the effects of artificial light on functional metabolites of the plants that were grown in greenhouses and growth chamber. METHODS AND RESULTS: It has been summarized that artificial lighting both in growth chambers and greenhouses caused different functional metabolites patterns depending on light quality. Even though the same light quality was applied, different patterns in metabolites were observed in different plant species. For the same species, supplementation of the same light quality in both growth chambers and greenhouses did cause different functional metabolites patterns. CONCLUSION: Artificial lighting caused different patterns in functional metabolites of plants grown in greenhouses and growth chambers, depending on the light quality and/or plant species. The manipulation of plant growth and functional metabolites would be possible by engineering the light qualities, but knowledge on proper lighting condition depending on plant species and growth places would be necessary.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.23-34
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• 2019

Global warming becomes a serious issue that poses subsidiary issues like a sea level rise or a capricious climate over the world. Because of severe heat-wave of the summer in Korea in 2016, a big attention has been focused on urban heat island since then. Not just about heat-wave itself, many researches have been concentrated on how to adapt in this trendy warming climate and weather in a small scope. A big part of existing studies is mitigating "Urban Heat Island effect" and that is because of huge impervious surface in urban area where highly populated areas do diverse activities. It is a serious problem that this thermal context has a high possibility causing mortality by heat vulnerability. However, there have been many articles of a green infrastructures' cooling impact in summer. This research pays attention to measure cooling effect of a street planting considering urban canyon and type of green infrastructures in neighborhood scale. This quantitative approach was proceeded by ENVI-met simulation with a spatial scope of a commercial block in Seoul, Korea. We found the dense double-row planting is more sensitive to change in temperature than that of the single-row. Among the double-row planting scenarios, shrubs which have narrow space between the plant and the land surface were found to store heat inside during the daytime and prevent emitting heat so as to have a higher temperature at night. The quantifying an amount of vegetated spaces' cooling effect research is expected to contribute to a study of the cost and benefit for the planting scenarios' assessment in the future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.278-280
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• 2019

Flow cytometer is one of the instrument that can measure various optical properties of a single cell or microparticle. These parameters including size, granularity, and fluorescence intensity are determined by the physical and optical interaction of the cells with excitation light source. However, users have some difficulties such as high cost, size of instrument, and limited fluorescence selectivity. In addition, abundant data is also unintentionally acquired even though user wants to have a single optical parameter. For these reasons, the use of flow cytometer is more challenging for researchers to apply their study. Therefore, the proposed study aims to develop a low-cost portable fluorescence acquisition system using a commercially available light-emitting diode and photodiode. It is designed by a 3D printer, and fluorescence selectivities are increased by changing of the light source / optical filter / detection sensor. Various number sets of fluorescently labeled cells were measured, and its feasibility was evaluated through the proposed system. As a result, acquried fluorescence intensities were proportional to the concentration of the cells and showed high linearity.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.204-212
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• 2021

Resazurin, an oxidized blue dye, is reduced to resorufin, showing a peak absorbance change and emitting fluorescence due to the metabolic activity of living cells. In this study, the growth of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and the redox potential of living probiotic bacteria were evaluated based on changes in the absorbance or fluorescence of resazurin. Fluorescence analysis is a more accurate and sensitive method for quantifying viable LGG than the colorimetric absorbance measurement of resazurin change. Fluorescence measurement could detect LGG of 6.5-9.5 log CFU/mL within 30 min with R2=0.99. No significant effect of further reduction of resorufin to dihydroresorufin by LGG was observed. Various probiotics showed different resazurin-reducing activities, and L. kimchicus had the highest reducing activity among the six probiotics tested. These findings suggests that fluorescence measurement in a resazurin-based assay is useful for analyzing bacterial growth and the redox potential of living probiotics.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 2021

Hydroponic cultivation, in which crops are grown without soil and are unaffected by the weather, has many advantages over conventional soil cultivation. The crop's growth can be further accelerated by using nutrient solution in place of water. This study investigated the growth and physicochemical properties of hydroponic barley sprouts under various nutrient solution and artificial light treatments. The shoot, root, and total plant length increased over time, with the fastest growth occurring in the nutrient solution and light-emitting diode (LED) treatments. Fresh and dry plant weights were higher in the fluorescent lamp treatment than in the LED treatment. Barley sprout powder color differed slightly by treatment, with the Hunters L value ranging from 50.79 to 53.77; Hunters a value from -6.70 to -4.42; and Hunters b value from 13.35 to 14.76. The Hunters L and Hunters b values were highest in the LED treatment, whereas the Hunters a value was relatively highest in the fluorescent lamp treatment. The total phenol content was higher in the control than in the nutrient solution treatment; however, the total flavonoid content showed the opposite pattern to that of total phenol content, being highest in plants that were grown in nutrient solution. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) was higher in the control group than in the nutrient solution group. The ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) was higher in the fluorescent treatment group than in the LED treatment group. The total amino acid composition ranged from 106.82 to 122.63 mg/g dry powder, with the essential amino acid composition ranging from 47.01 to 56.19 mg/g, and non-essential amino acid composition from 67.86 to 77.66 mg/g. The most frequently detected compositional amino acid was aspartic acid, followed by glutamic acid, alanine, leucine, and valine.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.719-725
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• 2020

Objectives: With the growth of national interest in fine particulate matter, many complaints about pollutants emitted from air pollution emitting facilities have arisen in recent years. In particular, it is thought that a large volume of particulate pollutants are discharged from workplaces that use Solid Refuse Fuel (SRF). Therefore, particulate contaminants generated from SRF were measured and analyzed in this study in terms of respective particle sizes. Methods: In this study, particulate matter in exhaust gas was measured by applying US EPA method 201a using a cyclone. This method measures Filterable Particulate Matter (FPM), and does not consider the Condensable Particulate Matter (CPM) that forms particles in the atmosphere after being discharged as a gas in the exhaust gas. Results: The mass concentration of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) in the four SRF-using facilities was 1.16 to 11.21 mg/Sm3, indicating a very large concentration deviation of about 10 times. When the fuel input method was the continuous injection type, particulate matter larger than 10 ㎛ diameter showed the highest particle size fraction, followed by particulate matter smaller than 10 ㎛ and larger than 2.5 ㎛, and particulate matter of 2.5 ㎛ or less. Contrary to the continuous injection type, the batch injection type had the smallest particle size fraction of particulate matter larger than 10 ㎛. The overall particulate matter decreased as the operating load factor decreased from 100% to 60% at the batch input type D plant. In addition, as incomplete combustion significantly decreased, the particle size fraction also changed significantly. Both TSP and heavy metals (six items) satisfied the emissions standards. The measured value of the emission factor was 38-99% smaller than the existing emissions factor. Conclusions: In the batch injection facility, the particulate matter decreased as the operating load factor decreased, as did the particle size fraction of the particulate matter. These results will help the selection of effective methods such as reducing the operating load factor instead of adjusting the operating time during emergency reduction measures.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.191-202
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• 2021

Purpose: A near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging is a promising tool for cancer-specific image guided surgery. Human epidermal receptor 2 (HER2) is one of the candidate markers for gastric cancer. In this study, we aimed to synthesize HER2-specific NIR fluorescence probes and evaluate their applicability in cancer-specific image-guided surgeries using an animal model. Materials and Methods: An NIR dye emitting light at 800 nm (IRDye800CW; Li-COR) was conjugated to trastuzumab and an HER2-specific affibody using a click mechanism. HER2 affinity was assessed using surface plasmon resonance. Gastric cancer cell lines (NCI-N87 and SNU-601) were subcutaneously implanted into female BALB/c nu (6-8 weeks old) mice. After intravenous injection of the probes, biodistribution and fluorescence signal intensity were measured using Lumina II (Perkin Elmer) and a laparoscopic NIR camera (InTheSmart). Results: Trastuzumab-IRDye800CW exhibited high affinity for HER2 (K_D=2.093(3) pM). Fluorescence signals in the liver and spleen were the highest at 24 hours post injection, while the signal in HER2-positive tumor cells increased until 72 hours, as assessed using the Lumina II system. The signal corresponding to the tumor was visually identified and clearly differentiated from the liver after 72 hours using a laparoscopic NIR camera. Affibody-IRDye800CW also exhibited high affinity for HER2 (K_D=4.71 nM); however, the signal was not identified in the tumor, probably owing to rapid renal clearance. Conclusions: Trastuzumab-IRDye800CW may be used as a potential NIR probe that can be injected 2-3 days before surgery to obtain high HER2-specific signal and contrast. Affibody-based NIR probes may require modifications to enhance mobilization to the tumor site.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.391-399
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• 2021

Eu²⁺ doped polyphosphate NaSr(PO₃)₃ blue-emitting phosphors were synthesized by the conventional solid state method in a reductive atmosphere. The phase formation of NaSr(PO₃)₃ phosphors were characterized by using the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) measurement. The photoluminescence emission and excitation spectra of the NaSr(PO₃)₃:Eu²⁺ phosphor, and decay curves were measured. Under the near-UV excitation, the phosphor exhibits a band emission around 420 nm assigned to the 4f⁶5d→f7(8S^7/2) transition of Eu²⁺. The temperature dependent emission spectra and decay curves were measured to elevate the thermal properties of the Eu²⁺ doped phosphors. The as-prepared NaSr(PO₃)₃:Eu²⁺ phosphors show a strong temperature dependent performance, which can serve as a promising temperature sensor.