• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.122-129
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• 2010

Objective: To investigate institutional review boards and approved clinical trials of Oriental medical hospitals in Korea Methods: We e-mailed 16 Oriental medical hospitals a survey consisting of questions that addressed two topics, institutional review boards and the clinical trials they approved. The first part included questions about whether each hospital had an institutional review board, that board's staffing and education, reviews, and expedited reviews. The clinical trials portion covered the number and types of approved clinical trials, treatment methods, whether an investigator or a sponsor initiated the trials, diseases, time frame, and clinical trial fee. Results: We received a response to our e-mail from 14 hospitals, all of which had an institutional review board. The average number of institutional review board members was 13.57. Of these Oriental medical hospitals, 70% and 49% said that they regularly educated their institutional review board staff and clinical trial, investigators, respectively. 79% of the hospitals claimed to conduct regular reviews, and 50% said that they did so monthly. The number of approved clinical trials increased sharply from 11 in 2005 to 102 in 2008. 68% of these clinical trials were randomized, and the most-used treatment methods were herbal medicine (35%) and acupuncture (29%). The most common target diseases were circulatory (19%), urinogenital (14%), and musculoskeletal (13%) disease. Conclusions: Despite the rapid increase in clinical research in oriental medical hospitals, many more efforts including raising IRB quality, varying research diseases and increasing clinical trials in the hospitals located in non-metropolitan area, should be made.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.179-188
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• 2000

Trace elements in air samples artificially loaded on filters with urban dust and the bulk material of urban dust as an environmental sample were determined non-destructively using instrumental neutron activation analysis. Standard reference material (Urban Dust, SRM 1648) of the National Institute of Standard and Technology was used for the analytical quality control. The relative error for 37 elements was less than 15% and the standard deviation was less than 10%. 29 elements in the urban dust and 21 elements in the loaded filter sample were determined respectively. To evaluate the proficiency and reliability of the measurement, data intercomparison was performed and 39 analytical laboratories participated in the analysis using different analytical methods; neutron activation analysis, particle induced X-ray emission analysis, X-ray fluorescence analysis and atomic absorption spectrometry. Z-scores were calculated using the standard deviation of the laboratorie's mean as target standard deviation, and a good result was obtained that the values fall between -1 and +1 except some elements.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.734-745
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• 2011

In this article, we reviewed the monitoring status of hazardous VOC in ambinet air in Korea and some developed countries such as USA, Japan, and UK. In many countries, two types of VOC monitoring stations are being operated, i.e., for hazardous VOC and photochemical VOC. Each country has different target VOC but all includes benzene. Korea, Japan, and UK have a national ambient air quality standard for benzene, but no national standard has been established in the USA. For sampling of the hazardous VOC, the adsorbent method is adopted in Korea and UK, while the canister method is used in the USA. Both of adsorbent and canister methods are used in Japan. USA and UK have only non-automatic method to measure the hazardous VOC, and the individual samples are being sent to their national laboratories for integrated analysis. On the other hand, Korea and Japan have automatic and nonautomatic methods to measure the hazardous VOC. Local governments or regional environmental agencies in Korea and Japan have the authorization for the sampling and analysis of VOC. According to a field study to evaluate the performance of automatic VOC monitoring system, controlling the moisture in the air sample was identified as the most important problem. However, careful attention must be given to using a moisture removing device such as Nafyon dryer, because of unexpected artifacts formation. In order to have reliable data, it is highly recommended not only to use internal standards, but to use appropriate hydrophobic adsorbents as a cold trap in any automatic on-line VOC monitoring system.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.41-50
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• 2016

Environmental impact assessment has been implemented for more than 30 years in Korea. During that period, various amendments were carried out about target plan and assessment factors. However, in current environmental impact assessment act, only a few factors has been considered for soil environment assessment. This study analyzes the national and foreign environmental impact assessment guidelines on soil related factors and figures out the problems and implications of Korean environmental impact assessment. In Korea, water quality, topography and geology, hydraulics and hydrology, and soil contamination were analyzed as a soil related factors. The main assessment targets were pollution related factors such as soil pollution levels, amount of rainfall runoff, and non-point sources. However, in the case of foreign guidelines, soil compaction, soil sealing, and soil salinization is being analyzed for evaluating function and quality of soil environment. The revision of soil-related factors are needed for sustainable development of Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.421-430
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• 2015

The parasite Plasmodium falciparum causes severe malaria and is the most dangerous to humans. However, it exhibits resistance to their drugs. Farnesyltransferase has been identified in pathogenic protozoa of the genera Plasmodium and the target of farnesyltransferase includes Ras family. Therefore, the inhibition of farnesyltransferase has been suggested as a new strategy for the treatment of malaria. However, the exact functional mechanism of this agent is still unknown. In addition, the effect of farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTIs) on mitochondrial level of malaria parasites is not fully understood. In this study, therefore, the effect of a FTI R115777 on the function of mitochondria of P. falciparum was investigated experimentally. As a result, FTI R115777 was found to suppress the infection rate of malaria parasites under in vitro condition. It also reduces the copy number of mtDNA-encoded cytochrome c oxidase III. In addition, the mitochondrial membrane potential (${\Delta}{\Psi}m$) and the green fluorescence intensity of MitoTracker were decreased by FTI R115777. Chloroquine and atovaquone were measured by the mtDNA copy number as mitochondrial non-specific or specific inhibitor, respectively. Chloroquine did not affect the copy number of mtDNA-encoded cytochrome c oxidase III, while atovaquone induced to change the mtDNA copy number. These results suggest that FTI R115777 has strong influence on the mitochondrial function of P. falciparum. It may have therapeutic potential for malaria by targeting the mitochondria of parasites.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.84-88
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• 2013

High risk of cardiovascular diseases caused by existing PPAR-${\gamma}$ agonists such as rosiglitazone and pioglitazone has been recently reported. CKD-501 is a novel selective PPAR-${\gamma}$ agonist as a potential target to reduce cardiovascular risk in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). In this study, We investigated potential cardiotoxicity of CKD-501 and compared its toxicity with that of rosiglitazone or pioglitazone using db/db mice. After 12-week repeated administration of CKD-501 at doses of 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg/day or rosiglitazone at doses of 10 and 30 mg/kg/day or pioglitazone at doses of 200 and 540 mg/kg/day, animals were sacrificed for investigation of potential toxicities. Diameters of left ventricles and areas of cardiomyocytes were measured. And lipid accumulation and apoptosis in heart muscle were examined by oil red O staining and TUNEL staining, respectively. Diameters of left ventricles were significantly increased in high dose treatment group of pioglitazone compared to control (p<0.05), while other groups showed a tendency for an increase. All test articles induced significantly the increase of area of cardiomyocytes in heart compared to control (p<0.01), in regular order as pioglitazone > CKD-501 ${\geq}$ rosiglitazone. However, lipid accumulation and apoptotic changes in heart were not observed in all dosing groups. Taken together, the myocardial cell hypertrophy of CKD-501 are relatively lower than that of pioglitazone and similar to rosiglitazone. And it is suggested that the myocardial cell hypertrophy of CKD-501 are less adverse in clinical use for the management of the NIDDM.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.625-633
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• 2017

Sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC) is one of the bioactive phospholipids that has many cellular functions such as cell migration, adhesion, proliferation, angiogenesis, and $Ca^{2+}$ signaling. Recent studies have reported that SPC induces invasion of breast cancer cells via matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) secretion leading to WNT activation. Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) is a matricellular and calcium-binding protein that binds to a wide variety of integrin and non-integrin cell surface receptors. It regulates cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis in inflammation, angiogenesis and neoplasia. TSP-1 promotes aggressive phenotype via epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). The relationship between SPC and TSP-1 is unclear. We found SPC induced EMT leading to mesenchymal morphology, decrease of E-cadherin expression and increases of N-cadherin and vimentin. SPC induced secretion of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) during SPC-induced EMT of various breast cancer cells. Gene silencing of TSP-1 suppressed SPC-induced EMT as well as migration and invasion of MCF10A cells. An extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor, PD98059, significantly suppressed the secretion of TSP-1, expressions of N-cadherin and vimentin, and decrease of E-cadherin in MCF10A cells. ERK2 siRNA suppressed TSP-1 secretion and EMT. From online PROGgene V2, relapse free survival is low in patients having high TSP-1 expressed breast cancer. Taken together, we found that SPC induced EMT and TSP-1 secretion via ERK2 signaling pathway. These results suggests that SPC-induced TSP-1 might be a new target for suppression of metastasis of breast cancer cells.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.653-664
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• 2015

TPLMS (Total water pollutant load management system) that is the most powerful water-quality protection program have been implemented since 2004. In the implementation of TPLMS, target water-quality and permissible discharged load from each unit watershed can be decided by water-quality modeling. And NPS (Non-point sources) discharge coefficients associated with certain (standard) flow are used on estimation of input data for model. National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) recommend NPS discharge coefficients as 0.15 (Q₂₇₅) and 0.50 (Q₁₈₅) in common for whole watershed in Korea. But, uniform coefficient is difficult to reflect various NPS characteristics of individual watershed. Monthly NPS discharge coefficients were predicted and estimated using surface flow and water-quality from HSPF watershed model in this study. Those coefficients were plotted in flow duration curve of study area (Palger stream and Geumho C watershed) with monthly average flow. Linear regression analysis was performed about NPS discharge coefficients of BOD, T-N and T-P associated with flow, and R² of regression were distributed in 0.893~0.930 (Palger stream) and 0.939~0.959 (Geumho C). NPS Discharge coefficient through regression can be estimated flexibly according to flow, and be considered characteristics of watershed with watershed model.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.223-230
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• 2011

An electrolytic oxidation process was applied to remove odorous compounds from non-point odor sources including wastewater pipelines and manholes. In this study, a distance between the anode and the cathode of the electrolytic process was varied as a system operating parameters, and its effects on odor removal efficiencies and reaction characteristics were investigated. Odor precursors such as sediment organic matters and reduced sulfur/nitrogen compounds were effectively oxidized in the electrolytic process, and a change in oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) indicated that an stringent anaerobic condition shifted to a mild anoxic condition rapidly. At an electrode distance of 1 cm and an applied voltage of 30 V, a system current was maintained at 1 A, and the current density was 23.1 $mA/cm^{2}$. Under the condition, the removal efficiency of hydrogen sulfide in gas phase was found to be 100%, and 93% of ammonium ion was removed from the liquid phase during the 120 minute operating period. Moreover, the sulfate ion (${SO_4}^{2-}$) concentration increased about three times from its initial value due to the active oxidation. As the specific power consumption (i.e., the energy input normalized by the effective volume) increased, the oxidation progressed rapidly, however, the oxidation rate was varied depending on target compounds. Consequently, a threshold power consumption for each odorous compound needs to be experimentally determined for an effective application of the electrolytic oxidation.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.133-149
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• 1997

Recently, the importance of management and cultivation of grasses has been increased in Korea. Among these cultural practices, the appropriate control of diseases is considered more important than other cultivation techniques such as fertilization and irrigation. The damages of brown patch and large patch caused by Rhizoctonia spp. and Pythium blight caused by Pythium spp. are serious in the major cultivation area of turfgrass in Korea. Since these diseases are difficult to control by agrochemicals, the damages are very serious if these are occured. The periodic spray of agrochemicals, to protect and control these diseases could make some problems of toxicity and environmental pollution as well as rising of non-target diseases. Therefore, the biological methods to control diseases have been required to decrease problems resulted from overuse of agrochemicals, to conserve natural ecosystem, and to control effectively diseases of grasses in the long period. The number of studies about biological control using antagonistic microorganisms have been increased for last half century. However, the application of biological control method has been very limited. In this study, thirteen isolates of R. cerealis, 8 isolates of R. solani and 3 isolates of Phthyn spp. have been isolated from diseased turfgrass in golf course and grass-culture area that have patch and wilting symptoms of zoysia grass and creeping bentgrass. Isolation frequency of R. cerealis and R. solani was high in especially zoysiagrass, while Pythym spp. was isolated from bent grass at low frequency but showed high pathogenicity. Totally, 205 isolates of soil microorganisms were isolated in this study as primary antagonistic microorganism by Herr's triple agar layer plate and dual culture method using rhizosphere of grasses, soil of crop field as the source of antagonistic microorganisms. Among the 205 isolates, 23 isolates were actinomycetes and 182 isolates were bacteria. All of the actinomycetes were isolated by Herr's method. Antagonistic effect of primary isolated microorganisms was tested for in vitro mycelial growth inhibition against pathogenic fungi isolated from grasses and for inhibition of disease occurrence in 24 well tissue culture plate and pot experiment. Then, four isolated of bacteria which are BG23, BG74, BG136 and BG171 were selected as antagonistic microorganisms against soil-born pathogenic fungi of bentgrass.