• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.307-318
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• 2010

This study was to analyze the ecological conditions, based on physical habitat, chemical, and biological conditions before (2006, 2007) and after ecological restoration (2009) in five sites of Changwon Stream (CS) and six sites of Nam Stream (NS), respectively, and then to compare ecological health between the two period. The analysis of ecological health was based on the multimetric models of Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) and Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) along with water chemistry in the streams. For the study, the models of IBI and QHEI were modified as 8 and 11 metric attributes, respectively. For the evaluations, the survey was conducted in the period of 2006~2007 before the restoration and in 2009 after the restoration by the city. Chemical conditions, based on conductivity, in both streams showed a typical longitudinal declines along the axis of the upstream-to-downstream. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in water quality between the two periods. Values of IBI in the CS and NS averaged 21.6 and 19.7, respectively, indicating a C grade in the criteria of Ministry of Environment, Korea, and there was no significant differences in the IBI between the two periods. Values of QHEI after the restoration averaged 29.2 and 63.2 in the CS and NS, respectively and the values decreased markedly especially, in the NS (35.3) after the restoration. The habitat disturbance was mainly attributed to destructions (i.e., the narrower width of riparian vegetation and higher substrate exposure by the air) of artificial materials by massive flood in 2009. Overall, our results suggest that the restoration was not effective in the two streams between the two periods, even if the budget was used a lot and that such ecological restoration, not considered the natural disaster, may not effect for the stream restoration.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.97-108
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• 2005

Samples of water, soil, and sediment were taken from 10 streams near Andong, Korea in May 2004. To assess the degree of environmental pollution of each stream, chemical pollutants such as total notrogen (T-N), total phosphorus (T-P), chemical oxygen demand (COD), heavy metals, organophosphorus pesticides, organochlorine pesticides, and dioxin-like PCB congeners were analyzed by standard process tests or U.S. EPA methods. In addition, biomarkers originated from insect immune systems of beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, were used to analysis of the environmental samples. Except Waya-chun stream showing T-N content of 9.12 mg/L, most streams were contaminated with relatively low levels of overall pollutants in terms of T-N, T-P, and COD, compared to their acceptable environmental levels designated by the Ministry of Environment. Contents of Pb and Cd in samples of each stream were much lower than environmentally permissible levels. However, several times higherconcentrations of Pb and Cd were found in locations at Mi-chun, Kilan-chun, and Hyunha-chun streams, in comparison with other streams. Diazinon, parathion, and phenthoate compounds among organophosphorus pesticides were detected as concentrations of 0.19, 0.40, and $1.13\;{\mu}g/g$, respectively, from soil sample collected in the vicinity of Mi-chun stream. On the other hand, 16 organochlorine pesticides and 12 dioxin-like PCB congeners, known as endocrine disrupting chemicals, selected in this study were not found above the limit of detection. Biomarker analyses using insect immune responses indicated that Waya-chun stream was suspected as exposure to environmental pollutants. Limitation and compensation of both environmental analysis techniques are discussed.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.273-284
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• 1996

Embryos and fetuses are more sensitive to various environmental agents than are adults or children. The biological effects such as intrauterine death and malformation are closely connected with prenatal exposure very various agents. The sensitivity of these embryonic/fetal effects depends on the stage of pregnancy. From the viewpoint of fetal development, embryonic and fetal stages can be divided into three stages : Preimplantation, organogenetic and fetal. Each stage corresponds to 0 to 4.5days, 4.5 to 13.5days, and 13.5days of gestation in mice, respectively. Many studies on the biologcal effects of mice irradiated by ${\gamma}-rays$ at various stages during organogenesis and fetal period have been performed. Based on these results, the dose-effect and dose-response relationships in malformations, intrauterine death, or retardation of the physical growth have been practically modeled by the ICRP(International Commission on Radiological Protection) and other international bodies for radiation protection. Many experimental studies on mice have made it clear that mice embryos in the preimplantation period have a higher sensitivity to radiation for lethal effects than the embryos/fetuses on other prenatal periods. However, no eratogenic effects of radiation at preimplantation stages of mice have been described in many textbooks. It has been believed that 'all or none action results' for radiation of mice during the preimplantation period were applied. The teratogenic and lethal effects during the preimplantation stage are one of the most important problems from the viewpoint of radiological protection, since the preimplantation stage is the period when the pregnancy itself is not noticed by a pregnant woman. There are many physical or chemical agents which affect embryos/fetuses in the environment. It is assumed that each agents indirectly effects a human. Then, a safety criterion on each agent is determined independently. The pregnant ICR mice on 2, 48, 72 or 96 hours post-conception (hpc), at which are preimplantation stage of embryos, were irradiated whole body Cesium-gamma radiation at doses of 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 Gy with dose rate of 0.2 Gy/min. In the embryos from the fetuses from the mice irradiated at various period in preimplantation, embryonic/fetal mortalities, incidence of external gross malformation, fetal body weight and sex ratio were observed at day 18 of gestation. The sensitivity of embryonic mortalities in the mice irradiated at the stage of preimplantation were higher than those in the mice irradiated at the stage of organogenesis. And the more sensitive periods of preimplantation stage for embryonic death were 2 and 48 hpc, at which embryos were one cell and 4 to 7 cell stage, respectively. Many types of the external gross malformations such as exencephaly, cleft palate and anophthalmia were observed in the fetuses from the mice irradiated at 2, 72 and 96 hpc. However, no malformations were observed in the mice irradiated at 48 hpc, at which stage the embryos were about 6 cell stage precompacted embryos. So far, it is believed that the embryos on preimplantation stage are not susceptible to teratogens such as radiation and chemical agents. In this study, the sensitivity for external malformations in the fetuses from the mice irradiated at preimplantation were higher than those in the fetuses on stage of organogenesis.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.479-488
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• 2014

Naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) from disturbance of rocks and soils has been overlooked as a source of exposure that could potentially have a detrimental impact on human health. But, few researches on mineralogical characteristics of NOA occurred in soils have been reported in Korea. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the mineralogical characteristics of NOA occurred in soils at Daero-ri area, Seosan, Chungnam Province, Korea. Sedimentation method was used for particle size separation of the asbestos-containing soils. XRD and PLM analyses were used to characterize mineralogical characteristics and mineral assemblages in soils. SEM-EDS and TEM-EDS analyses were used to characterize mineral morphology and chemical composition. Particle size analyses of the asbestos-containing soils showed they were composed of 26-93% sand, 4-23% silt and 3-70% clay. Soil texture of the soils was mainly sand, sandy loam, sandy clay, and clay. PLM analyses of the soil showed that most of the soil contained asbestiform tremolite and actinolite. The average content of asbestos in the soil was 1.5 wt. %. Therefore, the soil can be classified into asbestos-contaminated soils based on U. S. Environmental Protection Agency classification (content of asbestos in contaminated soil > 1%). Morphologically different types of tremolite such as long fibrous, needle-like, fiber bundle, bladed and prismatic forms co-existed. Prismatic tremolite was dominant in sand fraction and asbestiform tremolite was dominant in silt fraction. This study indicates that the prismatic form of tremolite transform gradually into a fibrous form of tremolite due to soil weathering because tremolite asbestos was mainly existed in silt fraction rather than sand fraction.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.271-277
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• 2012

The present study was conducted to assess the suitability of domestic natural waters as a Daphnia magna culture medium. In order to assess survival rate and reproductive output, young female daphnids (parent animals), aged less than 24 hours at the start of the test and produced in the Elendt M4 medium, were exposed to Elendt M4 medium, de-chlorinated tap water, and natural mineral water for 21 days. D. magna cultured in Elendt M4 medium (reference medium) and natural mineral water met the criteria of OECD No. 211, Daphnia magna Reproduction Test Guidelines in terms of percent adult survival, first day of reproduction, and average young production. However, the mortalities of adult daphnids observed in de-chlorinated tap water were more than 20% in two reproduction tests for 21 days. Mortality was observed on exposure days 13, 15, and 18 in de-chlorinated water. The use of D. magna is recommended in water of hardness >80 mg $CaCO_3\;L^{-1}$. However, the hardness of de-chlorinated tap water used in the present study was 50~53 mg $CaCO_3\;L^{-1}$. Therefore, it is judged that the delayed mortalities observed in de-chlorinated tap water were caused by a rapid decreased in hardness when the medium was changed from Elendt M4 to de-chlorinated tap water. When D. magna is cultured using domestic natural waters (underground water, surface water, and de-chlorinated water), the quality-control (QC) data should be maintained through a standardization for health assessment method, toxicity test method using reference chemical, test intervals of reference toxicant toxicity test, and data treatment and interpretation. In the long term, national research programs are needed for the development of test species which are representative of domestic aquatic environmental conditions among indigenous daphnids.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.154-161
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• 1998

To investigate whether the introduced genetic marker is useful to detect the survivalship and activity of the natural bacteria under the stressed conditions, one Gram-negative isolate, KP964 was transformed to the luminous phenotype by transferring luxAB gene. Under the starvation-stress this luminous bacterial culturability (determined by colony-forming-units [CFU] on agar plate) decreased rapidly below the detection limit by 37 days, while its total cell number (determined by AODC) remained almost the same as its initial inocular size. At that time period, the viable cell number was estimated to be 1400 times higher than its CFU number. The bioiuminescence (determined by relative light units [RLU]) produced under the same condition was also monitored and found to decrease more rapidly than the culturability by 5-fold. Under the other stresses, e.g., osmotic shocks, acid shock, and exposure to toxic chemicals, this bacterial strain did not show the reliable correlation between CFU and RLU. These results might not suggest the direct estimation of bioiuminescence from the stressed bacteria be an index of both the survivalship and its activity. However, when the stressed bacterial cells were incubated under the favorable condition by relieving from the existing stress, the potential bioiuminescence (the lag periods before the increase of bioiuminescence, the increase rates of bioiuminescence, and the maximal levels of bioiuminescence) was shown to be highly dependent upon the strengths of the stresses exposed to the bacterial cells. Therefore, analysis of the potential bioiuminescence from the stressed bacteria revealed good relationships with survival as well as activity.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.59-71
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• 2000

It is possible to obtain a fast CT scan during breath holding with spiral technique. But the risk of radiation is increased due to detailed and repeated scans. However, the limitation of X-ray doses is not fully specified on CT, yet. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to define the limitation of X-ray doses on CT The CT unit was somatom plus 4. Alderson Rando phantom, Solenoid water phantom, TLD, and reader were used. For determining adequate position and size of organs, the measurement of distance(${\pm}$2mm) from the midline of vertebral body was performed in 40 women(20~40 years). On the brain scan for 8:8(8mm slice thickness, 8mm/sec movement velocity of the table) and 10:10(10mm slice thickness, 10mm/sec movement velocity of the table) methods, the absorption doses of exposed area of the 10:10 were slightly higher than those of 8:8. The doses of unexposed uterus were negligible on the brain scan for both 8:8 and 10:10. On the chest scan for 8:8, 8:10(8mm slice thickness, 10mm/sec movement velocity of the table), 10:10, 10:12(10mm slice thickness, 12mm/sec movement velocity of the table) and 10:15(10mm slice thickness, 15mm/sec movement velocity of the table) methods, 8:8 method of the absorption doses of exposure area was the most highest and 10:15 method was the most lowest. The absorption doses of 8:10 method was relatively lower than those of the other methods. In conclusion, the 8:10 method is the most suitable to give a low radiation burden to patient without distorting image quality.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.297-306
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• 2010

Tributyltin (TBT), an endocrine disrupting chemical, has been reported to decrease testicular function by causing apoptosis in the testis, but this mechanism is not fully understood. Thus, in this study we examined whether TBT induces adipogenesis of the Leydig cells to find out the correlation between adipogenesis and apoptosis in the testis. Three week old SD male rats were orally administrated with sesame oil, 1 mg/kg of TBT, or 10 mg/kg of TBT daily for 1 week and weighed after administration. The testes obtained on day 8 were weighed and stained with BODIPY and TUNEL kit. Using total RNA extracted from the isolated Leydig cells, adipogenesis and apoptosis-related genes were analyzed by real-time PCR. The testicular weights of the rats treated with 10 mg/kg TBT were significantly decreased compared to those in the control rats treated with sesame oil. As a result of BODIPY staining, the number of Leydig cells stained with BODIPY was increased in the rats treated with 10 mg/kg TBT compared with the control rats. Similar to BODIPY staining results, the TUNEL assay showed that the apoptosis of Leydig cells was increased in TBT treated rats. The results of the gene expression analysis in the Leydig cells showed that the expression of adipogenesis-related genes (PPAR${\gamma}$, aP2, Perilipin, CD36) and apoptosis-related genes (TNFRSF1A, TNFSF10) was increased after TBT administration. The present study demonstrates that TBT induces the expression of adipogenesis-related and apoptosis-related genes in the Leydig cells leading to adipogenesis and apoptosis in the testes. These results suggest that the dysfunction of Leydig cells by TBT exposure may cause a loss in testicular function.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.131-137
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• 2000

The release of hazardous waste materials into the environment poses serious risks in humans and ecosystems. The risk assessment of environmental pollutants including hazardous chemicals requires a comprehensive measurement of hazard and exposure of the chemicals that can be achieved by toxicity evaluation using a biological system such as biomarkers. In this report we have tried to develop a biomarker used to elucidate a molecular basis of, and to monitor abnormal behaviors caused by diazinon in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) as a model organism. First, an attempt was made to clone tyrosine hydroxylase gene from Japanese medaka that would be a candidate for a biomarker for neuronal modulations and behaviors. For monitoring experiments at behavioral and molecular biological levels, the fish were treated under different sublethal conditions of diazinon and their behavioral responses were observed . In this study we have successfully cloned a partial TH gene from the medaka fish through PCR screening of an ovary cDNA library. DNA sequencing analysis revealed that the amplified fragment was 327 bp encoding 109 amino acids. Comparing the DNA sequence of medaka TH with other species, TH gene revealed the DNA sequence was completely identical to that of rat TH. In the RT-PCR, 330 Up of mRNA was consistently amplified in all the treated samples including control There were no significant differences in the TH expression level regardless of treating concentrations (1∼5,000 ppb) and time (0∼48 hr) The reason appeared to be that RT-PCR was not performed using through a quantitative analysis normalized against an actin gene expression. Organ or tissue - specific detection of TH activity and mRNA as biomarkers will be a useful monitoring tool for neurobehavioral changes in fish influenced by toxic chemicals. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of locomotive patterns and its correlation with the neurochemical and molecular data would be highly useful in measuring toxicity and hazard ofvarious environmental pollutants.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 1992

Studies were conducted to determine the combined effect of uniconazole [(E) -1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4, 4-demethyl 2-(1,2,4 triazol-1-yl)-1-penten-3-ol] and silver thiosulfate $[Ag {(S_2O_3)}^3\;_2-]$ (STS) on reduction of ozone injury in tomato plants(Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. 'Pink Glory'). Plants were given a 50ml soil drench of uniconazole at concentrations of 0, 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 mg/pot at the stage of emerging 4th leaf. Two days prior to ozone fumigation, STS solution contained 0.05% Tween-20 was also sprayed at concentrations of 0, 0.3 and 0.6 mM. Uniconazole at 0.01 mg/pot and STS at 0.6 mM were effective in providing protection against ozone exposure(20h at 0.2ppm) without severe retardation of plant height and chemical phytotoxicity, respectively. Combined treatment with uniconazole, STS significantly reduced ozone injury at the lower concentration than a single treatment with uniconazole or STS. Uniconazole treatment reduced plant height, stem elongation and transpiration rate on a whole plant level and increased chlorophyll concentration. STS did not give any effect on plant growth and chlorophyll content but increased transpiration rate in non-ozone-fumigated plants. Ethylene production in the leaves of ozone-fumigated plants was decreased by uniconazole and STS pretreatment, but there was no protective effect on epinasty of leaves in uniconazole-treated plants. STS increased ethylene production in non-ozone-fumigated plants, but it significantly reduced the degree of epinasty and defoliation of cotyledons when plants were exposed to ozone. Uniconazole slightly increased superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities. But STS showed little or no effects on such free radical scavengers. Day of flowering after seeding was shortened and percentages of fruit set were increased by uniconazole treatment. STS was highly effective on protecting reduction of fruit set resulting from ozone fumigation. These results suggest that combined use of uniconazole and STS should provide miximum protection against ozone injury without growth retardation resulting in yield loss.