• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.121-124
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• 2012

Valaciclovir is metabolized to acyclovir after ingestion and thereafter exerts its antiviral activity. Because of its superior pharmacokinetic profile, it has quickly replaced acyclovir in the treatment of herpesvirus infection. Neurotoxicity caused by valaciclovir has been reported, however, among patients with pre-existing impaired renal function. This paper reports a case of neurotoxicity of valaciclovir in a patient with end-stage renal disease who was undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). A 67-year-old female on CAPD took 500 mg of valaciclovir twice for herpes zoster. After she took her second dose orally, she developed confusion and disorientation, along with involuntary movements. Her mental confusion progressed to a coma. Discontinuation of valaciclovir showed no rapid improvement. There- fore, hemodialysis was started. After two sessions of hemodialysis, the patient became alert; and after four sessions of hemodialysis, her neurological abnormalities were completely reversed. In conclusion, valaciclovir can induce life-threatening neurotoxicity, especially in CAPD patients, even with appropriate dose reduction, which can be effectively managed by hemodialysis.

• Plant Resources
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.161-170
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• 2001

A major portion of drugs used in Ayurvedic system of medicine which has been practiced since the early human civilization in Indian subcontinent were of plant origin. It should be noted that 70% of the population in this region depends on Ayurveda for their medical treatment and 60% of the drug resources are obtained from the Himalayan region. Therefore, Nepal becomes a potential source of plant drug resource since it occupies a major portion of the Himalaya. In the present paper, in general a current status of medicinal plant resources of Himalayan region especially Nepal will be discussed. In addition to this, a typical example of antidiabetic activity of Shilajit will be taken for the discussion. Shilajit is one of the crucial elements in several formulations including those of Rasayana, a therapy in Ayurveda, which has been practiced in the prevention of ageing and mental disorder. Although, Shilajit is widely used for the treatment of diabetes, no satisfactory scientific reports are available up to now. The crude Shilajit in the market is a dark brown or black rock-like substance collected from the Himalayan region with a strong smell of cow's stale urine. In our studies, Shilajit (collected in the central Himalayan region) prevented the diabetes in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice model. Shilajit also prevented the diabetes in the rats against the action of multiple low-dose (10 mg/kg, i.v., 5 times) of streptozotocin. On the other hand, Shilajit did not show antioxidative activity. The preventive action of Shilajit on diabetes is mainly focused on the Thl and Th2 cell activities, since Th2 cells activity was found to be significantly upregulated. Shilajit, however, showed a mild action in controlling the blood sugar level in young, old, and mild diabetic rats, but not in the severe diabetic rats. It also stimulated the nitric oxide production in macrophages. Based on these evidences, the antidiabetic activities of Shilajit appear to be immunomodulative probably by protecting or strengthening insulin-producing b-cells in the pancreas. Further systematic research on constituents of Shilajit and its quality evaluation is necessary to enable the use of natural medicines in the treatment of diabetes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.317-324
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• 2018

SWRO-PRO hybrid desalination technology is recently getting more attention especially in large desalination markets such as USA, Middle East, Japan, Singapore, etc. because of its promising potential to recover a considerable amount of osmotic energy from brine (a high-concentration solution of salt, 60,000 - 80,000 mg/L) and also to minimize the impact of the discharged brine into a marine ecosystem. By the research and development of the core technologies of the SWRO-PRO desalination system in a national desalination research project (Global MVP) supported by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) and Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA), it is anticipated that around 25% of total energy consumption rate (generally 3 to $4kWh/m^3$) of the SWRO desalination can be reduced by recovering the brine's osmotic energy utilizing wastewater treatment effluent as a PRO feed solution and an isobaric pressure exchanger (PX, ERI) as a PRO energy converter. However, there are still several challenges needed to be overcome in order to ultimately commercialize the novel SWRO-PRO process. They include system optimization and integration, development of efficient PRO membrane and module, development of PRO membrane fouling control technology, development of design and operation technology for the system scaling-up, development of diverse business models, and so on. In this paper, the current status and progress of the pilot study of the newly developed SWRO-PRO hybrid desalination technology is discussed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.865-871
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• 2006

Signs of dental discolouration, difficulty in mastication, bony exostosis and debility were observed in cattle from Qingtongxia Ningxia, China where fluoride concentration in drinking water, soil, fodder, serum, bone, teeth, haircoat and urine were significantly higher than the corresponding health site. The problem of fluorosis in beef cattle is attributable to water containing toxic levels of fluoride. The objective of this paper was therefore to evaluate the influence of fluoride on erythrocyte parameters in cattle under high fluoride and low selenium conditions, as well as the protective efficacy of selenium exposure in feedstuff for bovine endemic fluorosis. Sixteen 6 to 7 year-old high fluoride beef cattle were randomly allotted into two groups each with eight cows: high fluoride control group, and supplemented with 0.25 mg/kg selenium per day for 83 days respectively. In addition, eight 6 to 7 year-old normal control beef cattle were selected from a non-high fluoride site. Blood samples were collected on day 0, 30 and 83 for erythrocyte parameters analysis and scanning electronic microscopy. The results indicated that erythrocytes, hemoglobin, packed cell volume values and $Na^+-K^+$ ATPase activity from affected cattle on the high fluoride site were significantly reduced during the period as compared with the corresponding samples of normal control cattle, a great number of echinocytes were present in peripheral blood, and subsequent anaemia. However, affected cattle exposed to selenium revealed increasable erythrocyte parameters, the extent of elevation in these values being dependent on the duration of supplementation with selenium. These findings suggest that fluoride exposure can cause erythrocyte damage, whereas selenium supplementation can antagonize fluoride-induced generation of free radicals and cumulative effects of lipid peroxidation in erythrocytes. Selenium supplementation may help to alleviate the possible hazards associated with bovine endemic fluorosis.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.642-647
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• 2010

This study examined the antimicrobial activity of Myagropsis yendoi (MY). The antimicrobial activity of ethanol and aqueous MY extracts were measured using a paper disc assay. The MY ethanol extract had the best antimicrobial activity. It inhibited the growth of Candida tropicalis and Gram-positive bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Listeria innocua, L. monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus at 4 mg/mL. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the MY ethanol extract ranged from 0.1 to 0.5%. The MY ethanol extract inhibited the growth of B. subtilis and L. innocuaat concentrations of 0.15% and 0.1%, respectively. The antimicrobial activity of the MY ethanol extract was not affected by heating at $121^{\circ}C$ for 15 min or pH 2.10. Therefore, the main substances responsible for the antimicrobial activity of the MY ethanol extract are believed to be stable with changing heat and pH.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1439-1446
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• 2009

Isocarbophos is a widely used organophosphorus insecticide that has caused environmental pollution in many areas. However, degradation of isocarbophos by pure cultures has not been extensively studied, and the degradation pathway has not been determined. In this paper, a highly effective isocarbophos-degrading strain, scl-2, was isolated from isocarbophos-polluted soil. The strain scl-2 was preliminarily identified as Arthrobacter sp. based on its morphological, physiological, and biochemical properties, as well as 16S rDNA analysis. The strain scl-2 could utilize isocarbophos as its sole source of carbon and phosphorus for growth. One hundred mg/l isocarbophos could be degraded to a non detectable level in 18 h by scl-2 in cell culture, and isofenphos-methyl, profenofos, and phosmet could also be degraded. During the degradation of isocarbophos, the metabolites isopropyl salicylate, salicylate, and gentisate were detected and identified based on MS/MS analysis and their retention times in HPLC. Transformation of gentisate to pyruvate and fumarate via maleylpyruvate and fumarylpyruvate was detected by assaying for the activities of gentisate 1,2-dioxygenase (GDO) and maleylpyruvate isomerase. Therefore, we have identified the degradation pathway of isocarbophos in Arthrobacter sp. scl-2 for the first time. This study highlights an important potential use of the strain scl-2 for the cleanup of environmental contamination by isocarbophos and presents a mechanism of isocarbophos metabolism.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.129-132
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• 2006

The purpose of this paper was to compare the clinical efficacy of iopamidol and iopromide, iohexol nonionic contrast media in terms of their image quality in Beagle dogs with hepatic CT angiography and their application in veterinary clinics. With 9 Beagle dogs, contrast media of iopamidol (pamiray-$300^(R)$) and iopromide (ultravist-$300^(R)$, iohexol (omnipaque-$300^(R)$) were induced intravenously (600 mg I/kg, BW) and CT angiography was done under general anesthesia. CT scan included scout, pre-contrast and cine examinations. During CT angiography, peak HU (Hounsfield unit) and peak time were examined on each site (ROI; region of interest) of the aorta, caudal vena cava, potral vein and liver parenchyma. Any side effects were also examined. After experiments, it was found that there were no significant changes of HU and maximal enhancing time of each ROIs of aorta, caudal vena cava, portal vein and liver parenchyma between these contrast media. And any side effects were not noted. So it is concluded that iopamidol has similiar contrast enhancement like as iopromide and iohexol in hepatic angiography and and it is thought to be useful for evaluation of the abdominal organs by CT scan in veterinary clinics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.735-745
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• 2014

This paper presents PKES(PuKyung -Excel based Simulator) for WWTPs(wastewater treatment plants) by using MS Excel and VBA(Visual Basic for Application). PKES is a user-friendly simulator for the design and optimization of the whole plant including biological and physico-chemical processes for the wastewater and sludge treatment. PKES calculates the performance under steady or dynamic state and allows changing the mathematical model by the user. Mathematical model implemented in PKES is a improved integration model based on ASM2d and ADM1 for simulation of AS(activated sludge) and AD(anaerobic digestion). Gaseous components of $N_2$, $N_2O$, $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ are added for estimation of GHGs(greenhouse gases) emission. The simulation results for comparison between PKES and Aquasim(EAWAG) showed about the same effluent concentrations. As a result of verification using by measured data of BOD, TSS, TN and TP for 2 years of operation, calculated effluent concentrations were similar to measured effluent concentrations. The values of average RMSE(root mean square error) were 1.9, 0.8, 1.6 and 0.2 mg/L for BOD, TSS, TN and TP, respectively. Total GHGs emission of WWTP calculated by PKES was 138.5 ton-$CO_2$/day and GHGs emissions of $N_2O$, $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ were calculated at 21.7, 28.9 and 87.9 ton-$CO_2$/day, respectively. GHGs emission of activated sludge was 32.5 % and that of anaerobic digestion was 67.5 %.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.759-770
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• 1995

By extensive studies with the quantitative status of the mineral constituents of thousands of water samples, it was found that almost in all natural waters irrespective of the surface or sub-surface sources, minimum 99.5% of the total amount of the cationic constituents are generally the contributions of 3 commonly present parameters viz. Ca, Mg and Na and that of the anionic species are same and contributed by $HCO_3$, Cl and $SO_4$ only. In the field of water works, all these major mineral substances are conventionally measured as their individual ions. But till now, no reliable and generalised methods or rules have been developed for the determination of the exact kinds of the individual salt components and their amounts from these ionic constituents normally present in water. As salt content, only the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) parameter is frequently measured by evaporation of the water sample. But TDS can tell nothing about the kinds and amounts of the individual salts present in it. Considering the analytical importance of the estimation of the mineral substances as their individual salts, some generalised mathematical models have been developed by this research which are based on the 'hypothetical order of chemical combinations' as may occur among the ionic constituents. With the help of these models, one can easily assume the most probable salts with approximate quantities derived from the ionic constituents. In addition, approximate amount of Na content can also be estimated mathematically with simultaneous verification of the correctness of the water analysis results. The models are stated in this paper with practical illustrations and descriptions of the method of applications.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.5-15
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• 1971

"Rapid Determination of Boric Acid in Nickel Plating Solution" by the addition of Na$_2$C$_2$O$_4$ and thus preventing the precipitation of i(OH)$_2$ during titiration , has previously been reported. In this paper, the exact amount of glycerine and the complexing possibility of oxalate with nickel has been determined by measn of conductivity titrations. This experimental work has been supported by the mathematical application of the Debye-Huckel and mass action equitions as well as statistical analysis. The results were ; (1) Fro determining boric acid in nickel plating solution, 20 ml of 400ml/ι glycerine was sufficient, since 97% of the H$_3$BO$_3$ was dissoicated by this addition. (2) In the absence of Na$_2$C$_2$O$_4$ the continious precipitation of Ni(OH)$_2$ during titration with NaOH even past end -point for boric acid determination resulted in considerable anlaytical error. (3) In the presence of Na$_2$C$_2$O$_4$ during titration , Ni++ combined with C$_2$O$_4$-to form NiC$_2$O$_4$. The solution with this precititate of very fine, colloidal , trantsparent particles, remained quite clear for approximately 2 hours. Therefore it was shown that the presence of Na$_2$C$_2$O$_4$ prevents the formation of gross Ni(OH)$_2$ precititation by forming NiC$_2$O$_4$ instead of a complex salt with Ni++ , which did not interfere with the visible determination of the end point for boric acid with NaOH titation. This observous may be interpreted in the light of the previously published solubility ratio for NiC$_2$O$_4$ and Ni(OH)$_2$, 0.3mg/100g H$_2$O(25$^{\circ}C$), respectively. Precipitation of the less soluble , albeit transparent salt, NiC$_2$O$_4$ precluded therefore the precipitation of the Ni(OH)$_2$ salt.