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Comparison of Amphotericin B and Itraconazole as Empirical Antifungal Therapy in Children with Acute Leukemia with Neutropenic Fever (발열을 동반한 호중구감소 상태의 급성백혈병 환아에서 경험적 항진균제로 투여한 Amphotericin B와 Itraconazole의 효과와 이상 반응 비교)

  • Lee, Sang-Yun;Park, Jong-Sun;Kim, Sun-Young;Yang, Keum-Jin;Park, Kyung-Deok;Kim, Hack-Ki
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.75-85
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    • 2005
  • Purpose : Fungal infection is one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies. Amphotericin B(ABV) and itraconazole(ITZA) have been used as the standard empirical antifungal therapy in neutropenic patients with acute leukemia who have persistent fever that does not respond to antibiotic therapy. ABV is an antifungal drug associated with side effects such as fever and chills, symptoms which may be mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-$1{\beta}$(IL-$1{\beta}$) and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$(TNF-${\alpha}$). We assessed modulation of these pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as the anti-inflammatory cytokines(IL-4, IL-1Ra) by ABV and ITZA. Methods : From March 2004 to February 2005, a total of 30 episodes from acute leukemia patients with febrile neutropenia were analyzed for this study. They were randomly allocated to receive intravenous ABV or ITZA for 14 days. Clinical responses were evaluated at the completion of therapy, and cytokine IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-4, and IL-1Ra were measured for determination to know the correlation between two antifungal agents and inflammatory cytokines. Results : Empirical antifungal agents were given to 37 patients(ABV 20, ITZA 17), and 30 patients(ABV 15, ITZA 15) were evaluable for efficacy. White blood cell and absolute neutrophil count in the group treated with ITZA increased early days of treatment, so the duration of neutropenia in ITZA group is shorter. Serum creatinine level is lower in ITZA group than in ABV group but this is not statistically significant. There was no significant difference in response rate between two groups. The IL-$1{\beta}$ was increased in ABV treatment group and the ratio of IL-1Ra/IL-$1{\beta}$ is markedly decreased in ABV treatment group while increased in ITZA group. Conclusion : ITZA and ABV have at least equivalent efficacy as empirical antifungal therapy in neutropenic children with acute leukemia. However ITZA is associated with significantly less toxicity in clinical and molecular aspects.

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Evaluation of Radiation Shielding Rate of Lead Aprons in Nuclear Medicine (핵의학과에서 사용하는 납 앞치마의 방사선 차폐율 평가)

  • Han, Sang-Hyun;Han, Beom-Heui;Lee, Sang-Ho;Hong, Dong-Heui;Kim, Gi-Jin
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.40 no.1
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    • pp.41-47
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    • 2017
  • Considering that the X-ray apron used in the department of radiology is also used in the department of nuclear medicine, the study aimed to analyze the shielding rate of the apron according to types of radioisotopes, thus ${\gamma}$ ray energy, to investigate the protective effects. The radioisotopes used in the experiment were the top 5 nuclides in usage statistics $^{99m}Tc$, $^{18}F$, $^{131}I$, $^{123}I$, and $^{201}Tl$, and the aprons were lead equivalent 0.35 mmPb aprons currently under use in the department of nuclear medicine. As a result of experiments, average shielding rates of aprons were $^{99m}Tc$ 31.59%, $^{201}Tl$ 68.42%, and $^{123}I$ 76.63%. When using an apron, the shielding rate of $^{131}I$ actually resulted in average dose rate increase of 33.72%, and $^{18}F$ showed an average shielding rate of -0.315%, showing there was almost no shielding effect. As a result, the radioisotopes with higher shielding rate of apron was in the descending order of $^{123}I$, $^{201}Tl$, $^{99m}Tc$, $^{18}F$, $^{131}I$. Currently, aprons used in the nuclear medicine laboratory are general X-ray aprons, and it is thought that it is not appropriate for nuclear medicine environment that utilizes ${\gamma}$ rays. Therefore, development of nuclear medicine exclusive aprons suitable for the characteristics of radioisotopes is required in consideration of effective radiation protection and work efficiency of radiation workers.

Semantic Process Retrieval with Similarity Algorithms (유사도 알고리즘을 활용한 시맨틱 프로세스 검색방안)

  • Lee, Hong-Joo;Klein, Mark
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.79-96
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    • 2008
  • One of the roles of the Semantic Web services is to execute dynamic intra-organizational services including the integration and interoperation of business processes. Since different organizations design their processes differently, the retrieval of similar semantic business processes is necessary in order to support inter-organizational collaborations. Most approaches for finding services that have certain features and support certain business processes have relied on some type of logical reasoning and exact matching. This paper presents our approach of using imprecise matching for expanding results from an exact matching engine to query the OWL(Web Ontology Language) MIT Process Handbook. MIT Process Handbook is an electronic repository of best-practice business processes. The Handbook is intended to help people: (1) redesigning organizational processes, (2) inventing new processes, and (3) sharing ideas about organizational practices. In order to use the MIT Process Handbook for process retrieval experiments, we had to export it into an OWL-based format. We model the Process Handbook meta-model in OWL and export the processes in the Handbook as instances of the meta-model. Next, we need to find a sizable number of queries and their corresponding correct answers in the Process Handbook. Many previous studies devised artificial dataset composed of randomly generated numbers without real meaning and used subjective ratings for correct answers and similarity values between processes. To generate a semantic-preserving test data set, we create 20 variants for each target process that are syntactically different but semantically equivalent using mutation operators. These variants represent the correct answers of the target process. We devise diverse similarity algorithms based on values of process attributes and structures of business processes. We use simple similarity algorithms for text retrieval such as TF-IDF and Levenshtein edit distance to devise our approaches, and utilize tree edit distance measure because semantic processes are appeared to have a graph structure. Also, we design similarity algorithms considering similarity of process structure such as part process, goal, and exception. Since we can identify relationships between semantic process and its subcomponents, this information can be utilized for calculating similarities between processes. Dice's coefficient and Jaccard similarity measures are utilized to calculate portion of overlaps between processes in diverse ways. We perform retrieval experiments to compare the performance of the devised similarity algorithms. We measure the retrieval performance in terms of precision, recall and F measure? the harmonic mean of precision and recall. The tree edit distance shows the poorest performance in terms of all measures. TF-IDF and the method incorporating TF-IDF measure and Levenshtein edit distance show better performances than other devised methods. These two measures are focused on similarity between name and descriptions of process. In addition, we calculate rank correlation coefficient, Kendall's tau b, between the number of process mutations and ranking of similarity values among the mutation sets. In this experiment, similarity measures based on process structure, such as Dice's, Jaccard, and derivatives of these measures, show greater coefficient than measures based on values of process attributes. However, the Lev-TFIDF-JaccardAll measure considering process structure and attributes' values together shows reasonably better performances in these two experiments. For retrieving semantic process, we can think that it's better to consider diverse aspects of process similarity such as process structure and values of process attributes. We generate semantic process data and its dataset for retrieval experiment from MIT Process Handbook repository. We suggest imprecise query algorithms that expand retrieval results from exact matching engine such as SPARQL, and compare the retrieval performances of the similarity algorithms. For the limitations and future work, we need to perform experiments with other dataset from other domain. And, since there are many similarity values from diverse measures, we may find better ways to identify relevant processes by applying these values simultaneously.

The Usefulness of LEUR Collimator for 1-Day Basal/Acetazolamide Brain Perfusion SPECT (1-Day Protocol을 사용하는 Brain Perfusion SPECT에서 LEUR 콜리메이터의 유용성)

  • Choi, Jin-Wook;Kim, Soo-Mee;Lee, Hyung-Jin;Kim, Jin-Eui;Kim, Hyun-Joo;Lee, Jae-Sung;Lee, Dong-Soo
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.94-100
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    • 2011
  • Purpose: Basal/Acetazolamide-challenged brain perfusion SPECT is very useful to assess cerebral perfusion and vascular reserve. However, as there is a trade off between sensitivity and spatial resolution in the selection of collimator, the selection of optimal collimator is crucial. In this study, we examined three collimators to select optimal one for 1-day brain perfusion SPECT. Materials and Methods: Three collimators, low energy high resolution-parallel beam (LEHR-par), ultra resolution-fan beam (LEUR-fan) and super fine-fan beam (LESFR-fan), were tested for 1-day imaging using Triad XLT 9 (TRIONIX). The SPECT images of Hoffman 3D brain phantom filled with 99mTc of 170 MBq and a normal volunteer were acquired with a protocol of 50 kcts/frame and detector rotation of 3 degree. Filterd backprojection (FBP) reconstruction with Butterworth filter (cut off frequencies, 0.3 to 0.5) was performed. The quantitative and qualitative assessments for three collimators were performed. Results: The blind tests showed that LESFR-fan provided the best image quality for Hoffman brain phantom and the volunteer. However, images for all the collimator were evaluated as 'acceptable'. On the other hand, in order to meet the equivalent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), total acquisition time or radioactivity dose for LESFR-fan must have been increased up to almost twice of that for LEUR-fan and LEHR-par. The volunteer test indicated that total acquisition time could be reduced approximately by 10 to 14 min in clinical practice using LEUR-fan and LEHR-par without significant loss on image quality, in comparison with LESFR-fan. Conclusion: Although LESFR-fan provides the best image quality, it requires significantly more acquisition time than LEUR-fan and LEHR-par to provide reasonable SNR. Since there is no significant clinical difference between three collimators, LEUR-fan and LEHR-par can be recommended as optimal collimators for 1-day brain perfusion imaging with respect to image quality and SNR.

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Antioxidative Effects of Korean Bamboo Trees, Wang-dae, Som-dae, Maengjong-juk, Jolit-dae and O-juk (한국산 왕대, 솜대, 맹종죽, 조릿대 및 오죽의 항산화 효과)

  • Lee, Min-Ja;Moon, Gap-Soon
    • Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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    • v.35 no.6
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    • pp.1226-1232
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    • 2003
  • Bamboo trees have been used for a long time as folk remedies for treatment of hypertension and stroke symptoms in Oriental regions. These pharmaceutical effects of bamboos look like to be related to its antioxidant capacity and phytochemicals in bamboos. To evaluate the antioxidative effects of bamboo trees, five kinds of bamboo varieties dominant in Korean peninsular were chosen and determined its total antioxidaive activities, free radical scavenging activities and nitrite scavenging activities by TEAC (Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity) assay, DPPH and Griess reagent assay using in vitro system, respectively. To evaluate the correlation between antioxidative activities and Maillard reaction during hot water extraction, contents of reducing sugar and total nitrogen and brown color intensity at 420 nm were determined. When total antioxidative activities, free radical scavenging activities and nitrite scavenging activities of five kinds of bamboo trees were compared, wang-dae (Phyllostachys bambusoides S. et Z.) showed the strongest effect among samples, although all kinds of extracts showed relatively strong effects against oxidation. The bamboo culms extract showed stronger antioxidative effects than that of bamboo leaves. In each fraction obtained from 70% ethanol extract, antioxidative effect were increased in order of dichloromethane>ethyl acetate>butanol>water>hexane fraction. In reducing sugar analysis of extracts, reducing sugar contents of water extracts were higher than that of 70% ethanol extracts and wang-dae water extract showed the highest level which was 708.92 mg/g. Total nitrogen contents of the extracts were $1.785{\sim}2.605\;mg%$ and contents in water extracts were lower than that in 70% ethanol extracts. Brown color intensity at 420 nm showed similar tendency with results in reducing sugar contents.

A Study on the Effects of Dietary Fat Sources on the Plasma and Liver Cholesterol Levels in Young Chicks (지방공급원이 병아리의 혈액 및 간 Cholesterol 함량에 미치는 영향)

  • 최인숙;지규만;오미향
    • Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.209-219
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    • 1986
  • This study was designed to investigate the effects of various sources of dietary fats on the blood and liver cholesterol(CHOL) levels in young Single Comb White Leghorn male chicks, In experiment 1, corn oil, palm gil, tallow and fish oil were added individually at a level of 4% to semipurified type diets composed of isolated soyprotein and glucose as major components. The diets were fed ad libitum for a period of 15 days. In experiment 2, various fats such as corn oil, soybean oil, repeseed oil, palm oil, tallow, fish oil and hydrogenated fish oil(HFO) were added individually at a level of 11.4% to practical type diets primarily based on corn and soybean meal. Control diet contained 3% of corn oil. All these diets were formulated to contain equivalent amount of nutrients such as protein, vitamins and minerals on a basis of unit kcal of metabolizable energy. The third Experiment was to compare the effects of different levels of calorie/protein(C/P ratio) of diets on the performances and various biological parameters in the chicks. Control diet was the same as in experiment 2. Another diet was added with 11.14% corn oil(C/P ratio=146) and the other diet with 10% corn oil(C/P ratio=164), The diets in experiment 2 and 3 were fed ad libitum for 26 days. In the first experiment, the chicks fed the diet containing vegetable oils tended to grow faster and show better feed efficiency without significance than those fed diets added with animal fats. However, this tendency was not observed in the experiment 2. Birds consumed the diets added with fish oil appeared to have heavier liver weight and higher liver CHOL than the others(p〈0.05), No significant differences in the levels of blood CHOL and triacylglycerol(TG) were observed among the chicks of various dietary groups(Exp. 1). Weights of liver or heart were significantly heavier in the chicks consumed the diets added with HFO or fish oil, respectively(Exp. 2). However, chicks ingested diet containing fish oil appeared to have significantly lower plasma CHOL. No significant differences were observed in the levels of liver CHOL and plasma TG among the dietary groups. Birds consumed the diet with a wider C/P ratio resulted in higher liver TG levels in experiment 3(p〈0.05). Although no statistical differences were observed among the various dietary groups, chicks fed the diet with a wider C/P ratio tended to show higher levels of plasma CHOL, TG, liver CHOL and total liver lipids compared to those of the control group.

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A Study on the Applicability of Torrefied Wood Flour Natural Material Based Coagulant to Removal of Dissolved Organic Matter and Turbidity (용존성 유기물질 및 탁도 제거를 위한 반탄화목분 천연재료 혼합응집제의 적용성에 관한 연구)

  • PARK, Hae Keum;KANG, Seog Goo
    • Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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    • v.48 no.4
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    • pp.472-487
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    • 2020
  • With the emergence of abnormal climate due to the rapid industrialization, the importance of water quality management and management costs are increasing every year. In Korea, for the management of total phosphorus and total nitrogen, the major materials causing the water quality pollution, coagulants are injected in sewage treatment plants to process organic compounds. However, if the coagulant is injected in an excessive amount to PAC (Poly Aluminium Chloride), a secondary pollution problem might occur. As such, a study on the applicability of natural material-based coagulant is being conducted in Korea. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the applicability of a mixed coagulant developed by analyzing water quality pollutants T-P, T-N as well as their turbidity, in order to derive the optimum mixing ratio between PAC and torrefied wood flour for the primary settling pond effluent. Under the condition where the content of PAC (10%) and torrefied wood flour is 1%, T-P showed the maximum removal efficiency of 92%, and T-N showed approximately 22%. This indicates that removal of T-N which includes numerous positively charged organic compounds that are equivalent to mixed coagulant is not well accomplished. Turbidity showed the removal efficiency of approximately 91%. As such, 1% of torrefied wood flour was determined to be the optimum addition. As a result of analyzing the removal efficiency for organic compounds by reducing PAC concentration to 7%, T-P showed a high maximum removal efficiency of 91%, T-N showed 32%, and turbidity showed the maximum of 90%. In addition, a coagulation process is performed by using the mixed coagulant based on 1% content of torrefied wood flour produced in this study by performing a coagulation performance comparative experiment with PAC (10%). As a result, PAC concentration was reduced to 30-50%, a similar performance with other coagulants in market was secured, PAC injection amount was reduced that an economic effect can be achieved, and it is considered to perform a stable water treatment that reduces the secondary pollution problem.

Multiple Linear Analysis for Generating Parametric Images of Irreversible Radiotracer (비가역 방사성추적자 파라메터 영상을 위한 다중선형분석법)

  • Kim, Su-Jin;Lee, Jae-Sung;Lee, Won-Woo;Kim, Yu-Kyeong;Jang, Sung-June;Son, Kyu-Ri;Kim, Hyo-Cheol;Chung, Jin-Wook;Lee, Dong-Soo
    • Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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    • v.41 no.4
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    • pp.317-325
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    • 2007
  • Purpose: Biological parameters can be quantified using dynamic PET data with compartment modeling and Nonlinear Least Square (NLS) estimation. However, the generation of parametric images using the NLS is not appropriate because of the initial value problem and excessive computation time. In irreversible model, Patlak graphical analysis (PGA) has been commonly used as an alternative to the NLS method. In PGA, however, the start time ($t^*$, time where linear phase starts) has to be determined. In this study, we suggest a new Multiple Linear Analysis for irreversible radiotracer (MLAIR) to estimate fluoride bone influx rate (Ki). Methods: $[^{18}F]Fluoride$ dynamic PET scans was acquired for 60 min in three normal mini-pigs. The plasma input curve was derived using blood sampling from the femoral artery. Tissue time-activity curves were measured by drawing region of interests (ROls) on the femur head, vertebra, and muscle. Parametric images of Ki were generated using MLAIR and PGA methods. Result: In ROI analysis, estimated Ki values using MLAIR and PGA method was slightly higher than those of NLS, but the results of MLAIR and PGA were equivalent. Patlak slopes (Ki) were changed with different $t^*$ in low uptake region. Compared with PGA, the quality of parametric image was considerably improved using new method. Conclusion: The results showed that the MLAIR was efficient and robust method for the generation of Ki parametric image from $[^{18}F]Fluoride$ PET. It will be also a good alternative to PGA for the radiotracers with irreversible three compartment model.

Fluid Inclusions Trapped in Tourmaline from the Daeyou Pegmatite Deposit, Jangsu-Gun, Jeollabukdo (전북 장수군 대유 페그마타이트광산의 전기석에 포획된 유체포유물)

  • Lee, Ju-Youn;Eom, Young-Bo;Nam, Bok-Hyun;Hwang, Byoung-Hoon;Yang, Kyoung-Hee
    • Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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    • v.20 no.1 s.51
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    • pp.7-19
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    • 2007
  • Four types of fluid inclusions are trapped within tourmaline from Daeyou pegmatite, Jangsu-Gun, Jeonllabukdo. They range $5{\sim}100\;{\mu}m$ in size and are grouped into I, II, III, and IV based on the phase behavior at the room temperature: (1) Type I inclusions are liquid-rich and NaCl equivalent salinity ranged $0{\sim}12\;wt%$, and the homogenization temperatures (Th) ranged $181{\sim}230^{\circ}C$ with eutectic temperatures (Te) $-54{\sim}-22^{\circ}C$. (2) Type II inclusions are vapor-rich and salinity ranged $3{\sim}8\;wt%$ NaCl, and Th ranged $177{\sim}304^{\circ}C$ also showing Te $-54{\sim}-29^{\circ}C$. (3) Type III inclusions contain a halite daughter mineral with $31{\sim}40\;wt%$ NaCl, Th $230{\sim}328^{\circ}C$. More than 90% of Type III homogenize by halite dissolution and are spatially associated with silicate melt inclusions. (4) Type IV inclusions are $CO_{2}$-bearing containing various daughter minerals such as sylvite and/or halite. The density of $CO_{2}$ system within the Type IV is $0.80{\sim}0.75\;g/cm^{3}$, Th $190{\sim}317^{\circ}C$, and salinity $2{\sim}35\;wt%$ NaCl. Type III fluid inclusions, considered as the earliest fluid, formed from the fluid exsolved from the crystallizing pegmatite. It is suggested that Type II fluid in the central part of tourmaline were exsolved earlier than Type I fluids in the margin indicating salinity fluctuation during the growth of tourmaline. It implies the fluctuation of the pressure since the salinity of fluid exsolved from the crystallizing melt is governed by the pressure. The last fluid was Type IV, which may be derived from the nearby limestone and metasedimentary rocks. It is suggested that Daeyou pegmatite containing muscovite without miarolitic cavities was formed by the partial melting resulted from the regional metamorphism. Subsequently, the exsolving fluids from the crystallizing melt were trapped in tourmaline at high pressure condition. The exsolved fluids contain various components such as $CaCl_{2}\;and\;MgCl_{2}$ as well as NaCl and KCl. The exsolution began at least at $2.7{\sim}5.3\;kbar\;and\;230{\sim}328^{\circ}C$ with the pressure fluctuation.

Adsorption of Arsenic on Goethite (침철석(goethite)과 비소의 흡착반응)

  • Kim, Soon-Oh;Lee, Woo-Chun;Jeong, Hyeon-Su;Cho, Hyen-Goo
    • Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.177-189
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    • 2009
  • Iron (oxyhydr)oxides commonly form as secondary minerals of high reactivity and large surface area resulting from alteration and weathering of primary minerals, and they are efficient sorbents for inorganic and organic contaminants. Accordingly, they have a great potential in industrial applications and are also of substantial interest in environmental sciences. Goethite (${\alpha}$-FeOOH) is one of the most ubiquitous and stable forms of iron (oxyhydr)oxides in terrestrial soils, sediments, and ore deposits, as well as a common weathering product in rocks of all types. This study focused on adsorption reaction as a main mechanism in scavenging arsenic using goethite. Goethite was synthesized in the laboratory to get high purity, and a variety of mineralogical and physicochemical features of goethite were measured and related to adsorption characteristics of arsenic. To compare differences in adsorption reactions between arsenic species, in addition, a variety of experiments to acquire adsorption isotherm, adsorption edges, and adsorption kinetics were accomplished. The point of zero charge (PZC) of the laboratory-synthesized goethite was measured to be 7.6, which value seems to be relatively higher, compared to those of other iron (oxyhydr)oxides. Its specific surface area appeared to be $29.2\;m^2/g$ and it is relatively smaller than those of other (oxyhydr)oxides. As a result, it was speculated that goethite shows a smaller adsorption capacity. It is likely that the affinity of goethite is much more larger for As(III) (arsenite) than for As(V) (arsenate), because As(III) was observed to be much more adsorbed on goethite than As(V) in equivalent pH conditions. When the adsorption of each arsenic species onto goethite was characterized in various of pH, the adsorption of As(III) was largest in neutral pH range (7.0~9.0) and decreased in both acidic and alkaline pH conditions. In the case of As(V), the adsorption appeared to be highest in the lowest pH condition, and then decreased with an increase of pH. This peculiarity of arsenic adsorption onto goethite might be caused by macroscopic electrostatic interactions due to variation in chemical speciation of arsenic and surface charge of goethite, and also it is significantly affected by change in pH. Parabolic diffusion model was adequate to effectively evaluate arsenic adsorption on goethite, and the regression results show that the kinetic constant of As(V) is larger than that of As(III).