• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2008

Organic forms of arsenic (As) were determined through fractionation procedure of soil organic matter (SOM) in soil, sediments and mine tailing samples from the Myungbong, Dongil, and Okdong mining areas of southern Korea. An alkaline extraction method was applied to soil samples followed by the fractionation procedures of SOM by the DAX-8 and XAD-4 resin adsorption method. Major fraction of organic As species (42% to 98%) was found in acid-soluble fraction, whereas minor fraction (0.1 % to 67.8%) was present in the humic-associated As. In acid-soluble fractions, the transphillic- and hydrophilic-associated As were dominant in addition to As binding with humic and fulvic SOM. Arsenic binding was the strongest between pH 6 to 8 and reduced to about 70% at both low and high pH regions. The amount of both transphillic and hydrophillic associated As was less changed than humic and fulvic-associated As, in both low and high pH regions. This apparently indicates that As has stronger affinity towards hydrophillic rather than hydrophobic organics. From the experimental observation of As-binding SOM in natural soil, the ligand exchange model may be a feasible explanation of transphillic and hydrophillic affinity of As.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.261-264
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• 2005

In the current study, we examined the quality of surface water in ponds at two golf courses, located in southern (Country Club P) and eastern (Country Club B) areas of Korea respectively. Seasonal measurements were made of following physical parameters;pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, chloride, alkalinity, hardness, and nitrogen compounds [$NH_3$-N, $NO_2$-N, $NO_3$-N] and the concentrations of four heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) throughout the courses. The pH values were within the alkaline range (7.3 to 9.0), and the biological oxygen demand was generally between 0.5 and 3.1 mg/L. The alkalinity and hardness ranged from 19.1 to 68.5mg/L and 16.1 to 63.6 mg/L, respectively. Nitrogen as ammonium $(NH_3-N)$ was detected in all samples, and the samples had low concentrations of $NO_2-N$ and $NO_3-N$. Cd concentrations were relatively high (to 22.44 mg/L); the highest Cd concentration was observed in the pond in Country Club P. Other metal concentrations were low compared to the Quebec guidelines.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.54-68
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• 2011

$^1H$ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of biological samples has been proven to be an effective and nondestructive approach to probe drug toxicity within an organism. In this study, ketoprofen toxicity was investigated using $^1H$-NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. Histopathologic test of ketoprofen-induced acute gastrointestinal damage in rats demonstrated a significant dose-dependent effect. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) derived from $^1H$-NMR spectra of urinary samples showed clear separation between the vehicle-treated control and ketoprofen-treated groups. Moreover, PCA derived from endogenous metabolite concentrations through targeted profiling revealed a dose-dependent metabolic shift between the vehicle-treated control, low-dose ketoprofen-treated (10 mg/kg body weight), and high-dose ketoprofen-treated (50 mg/kg) groups coinciding with their gastric damage scores after ketoprofen administration. The resultant metabolic profiles demonstrated that the ketoprofen-induced gastric damage exhibited energy metabolism perturbations that increased urinary levels of citrate, cis-aconitate, succinate, and phosphocreatine. In addition, ketoprofen administration induced an enhancement of xenobiotic activity in fatty oxidation, which caused increase levels of N-isovalerylglycine, adipate, phenylacetylglycine, dimethylamine, betaine, hippurate, 3-indoxylsulfate, N,N-dimethylglycine, trimethyl-N-oxide, and glycine. These findings demonstrate that $^1H$-NMR-based urinary metabolic profiling can be used for noninvasive and rapid way to diagnose adverse drug effects and is suitable for explaining the possible biological pathways perturbed by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug toxicity.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.25-28
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• 1999

For investigating the effectiveness of Korean natural zeolite for removal of $NH_4{^+}$ in waste waters containing $NH_4{^+}$ and $Cu^{2+}$, the adsorption of $NH_4{^+}$ and $Cu^{2+}$ by three Korean natural zeolite samples, which contained mordenite and/or clinoptilolite, was measured by adding solutions containing $NH_4{^+}$ and $Cu^{2+}$ or both at a concentration range from 1 to 7 mmol(+)/L of each cation. In the solutions, the zeolite samples adsorbed more amounts of $NH_4{^+}$ than $Cu^{2+}$. By seven successive equilibrations, Korean natural zeolites adsorbed $NH_4{^+}$ corresponding to 23~33% of those cation exchange capacity from the solution containing both $NH_4{^+}$ and $Cu^{2+}$ at 3 mmol(+)/L of each cation. Whereas, the corresponding adsorption of $Cu^{2+}$ was 17-27% of the CEC. Korean natural zeolite exhibited selectivity for $NH_4{^+}$ but not for $Cu^{2+}$. Nevertheless, it using as a soil amendment after removing of $NH_4{^+}$ in waste waters should be carefully controlled on the application rate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.463-468
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• 2003

Polychlorinated biphenyl are toxic pollutants and their degradation is quite slow in the environment. Recently, interest if bioremediation using PCB-degrading bacteria has increaset,. In a previous report, plant terpenes (p-cymene, (S)-(-)-limonene, ${\alpha}-pynene$, and ${\alpha}-terpinene$) have been found to be utilized by a PCB degrader and to induce the biphenyl dioxygenase gene in pure culture. In this study, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KF707, a PCB-degrading Gram-negative soil bacterium, was used to determine whether the terpene stimulation of PCB degrader occurred in the natural environment. First, P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707 was genetically tagged using a transposon with gfp (green fluorescent protein) as a reporter gone. The population dynamics of P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707 harboring gfp gene in a PCB-contaminated environment was examined with or without terpenoids added to the microcosm. About 10-100-fold increase was found in the population of PCB degraders when terpene was added, compared with control (non-terpenes samples and biphenyl added samples). It was proposed that the gfp-monitoring system is very useful and terpenes enhance the survivability of PCB degraders in PCB-contaminated environments.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.143-147
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• 2006

A rapid PCR-based assay for detecting hepatitis B viral DNA(HBV DNA) in serum and plasma was developed using a new PCR instrument named GenSpector(TMC-1000, Samsung electronics). PCR was carried out using a chip-based platform, which enabled 50 PCR cycles with internal controls, and melting-curve analysis in 30 minutes. Verification of the amplified HBV DNA product and the internal control was based on specific melting temperatures(Tm) analysis, executed by the GenSpector software. Primers were designed within the region conserved through HBV genotypes A to F. The lower limit of detection was 840 copies/ml serum, conducted with serial dilutions of a HBV DNA positive control(ACCURUN 325 series 700, Boston Biomedica Inc.). The assay was also compared to another assay for HBV DNA(Versant HBV DNA 3.0 assay, Bayer HealthCare) for 200 samples(each 100 clinical negative and positive samples). The sensitivity and specificity were 100% matched. This rapid PCR-based assay is specific, reproducible, and enables qualitative detection of HBV DNA.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.279-284
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• 1977

Like that mentioned in the 2nd report, because of panel's sense of psychological and physiological responsibility caused by multi-samples, great errors in experimental results are expected. So as to cut down these errors, the new method called "Pair Comparision with Standard" that reduces test frequency and is superior in detecting power is designed, and its mathematical model is proposed. This paper suggests that this method can be used for screening test that, first of all, selects 4-5 of multi-samples and the most efficient sensory evaluation method in laboratorial quality study is that, after screening by this method, Trio Paired Comparison for the final justification is applicated.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.120-125
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• 1981

Organic acids of Kochuzang (red pepper paste) prepared from glutinous rice, polished barley, wheat flour and sweet potato were analyzed by a gas chromatography. Lactic, pyruvic, succinic, fumaric, malic, pyroglutamic and citric acid were identified. And trace amount of oxalic acid was found in the Kochuzang prepared from sweet potato. The dominant organic acid of all samples was pyroglutamic acid, followed by pyruvic and citric acid. The organic acids were lower in Kochuzang from wheat flour than in other samples. The contents of succinic and fumaric acid were highest in Kochuzang prepared from sweet potato and were lowest in polished barley Kochuzang.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1969-1972
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• 2008

In this study, horse spleen apoferritins were induced to form biominerals using up to 3000 Fe atoms per protein molecule. The morphology and crystallinity of the nanometer-sized biominerals formed in the ferritins were then analyzed using field emission-energy filtering-transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM). The ferritins were found to have reconstitution yields of 60-70% in the experiments. The mean core size of the ferritins varied somewhat with protein concentrations, indicating that crystal growth in ferritins could be controlled via protein concentrations. The core mineral size increased with the amount of Fe used. Lattice fringes of the core, associated with good crystallinity, were found in all samples. The lattice fringe images of a single domain ferrihydrite mineral appeared frequently in the (011) planes (d-spacing of 0.246 nm) under [100] zone axis in all samples of this study. In addition, the lattice image occasionally revealed fringes corresponding to the (100) planes (d = 0.254 nm) from the [001] zone axis, indicating the characteristic pattern of hexagonal crystal lattice. Diffraction patterns in the minerals identified as ferrihydrite were fitted well into the space group of $P3_{1c}$.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.79-88
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• 1991

These studies were carried out to find out some characteristic responses of biological samples under the exposure of trace metals. In animal experiment, six rats per week were killed for 6 weeks under Cd exposures and the concentrations of Cd, Cu and Zn in their organs and blood were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry.The results were summarized as follows: In animal experiments, the concentrations of Cd in the liver and kidney of Cd exposure groups were increased, however, the values of hematocrit and hemoglobin in blood were decreased remarkably. The body weight of the Cd exposure groups showed lower trend than that of control group. The concentrations of Cd in heart, lung and testes were increased slowly during the first 2 weeks. The concentrations of Cd in their organs decreased while the rapid increase of the concentration of Cd in the liver and kidney was observed. While rapid increase of the concentra~ion of Cd in the liver and kidney was observed, the concentrations of Cd in the organs were decreased afterward and increased again while the low increase of the concentration of Cd in the liver and kidney was observed. The concentrations Cu and Zn were increased remarkably in all the organs for first 2 and 3 weeks. In the exposure groups of Cd+Cu and Cd+Zn, the liver and kidney didn't show lower concentration of Cd than that of Cd group.