• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2006

The breast cancer has the highest occurrence rate among the female cancers, and as the living style changes, the occurrence is increasing gradually. For the breast cancer test among women, who comprises up to 50% of the total population, the mammography is mainly used as the screening test, and the accuracy control is the most important aspect of the testing. Therefore this research divided the northern part of Kyeongsangbuk-do into 4 regions and investigated the accordance ratio of examination field and light examination field, the total focus using the optical density and compression rate, and the overall maintenance of mammography within the regions. The equipments of 11 hospitals were investigated, and the 7 hospitals passed the standard level of the accordance ratio of examination field. 6 hospitals passed the standard optical density, and 7 hospitals had the passing performance in the compression rate. Fibers, group of specks, and masses within the Mammographic Accreditation Phantom scored 10, being within the standard range. However, only 3 hospitals were equipped with private development processor and illumination. The result reflects the fact that the image quality of breast is not correctly being maintained. Moreover, only 27.27% satisfied all the three categories of compression fitting, accordance ratio of examination field, and phantom image evaluation at the same time. The accuracy control must be maintained more precisely for the accurate diagnosis of breast cancer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.99-99
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• 2013

In this talk, I will present two research works in progress, which are: i) mapping of piezoelectric polarization and associated charge density distribution in the heteroepitaxial InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well (MQW) structure of a light emitting diode (LED) by using inline electron holography and ii) in-situ observation of the polarization switching process of an ferroelectric Pb(Zr1-x,Tix)O3 (PZT) thin film capacitor under an applied electric field in transmission electron microscope (TEM). In the first part, I will show that strain as well as total charge density distributions can be mapped quantitatively across all the functional layers constituting a LED, including n-type GaN, InGaN/GaN MQWs, and p-type GaN with sub-nm spatial resolution (~0.8 nm) by using inline electron holography. The experimentally obtained strain maps were verified by comparison with finite element method simulations and confirmed that not only InGaN QWs (2.5 nm in thickness) but also GaN QBs (10 nm in thickness) in the MQW structure are strained complementary to accommodate the lattice misfit strain. Because of this complementary strain of GaN QBs, the strain gradient and also (piezoelectric) polarization gradient across the MQW changes more steeply than expected, resulting in more polarization charge density at the MQW interfaces than the typically expected value from the spontaneous polarization mismatch alone. By quantitative and comparative analysis of the total charge density map with the polarization charge map, we can clarify what extent of the polarization charges are compensated by the electrons supplied from the n-doped GaN QBs. Comparison with the simulated energy band diagrams with various screening parameters show that only 60% of the net polarization charges are compensated by the electrons from the GaN QBs, which results in the internal field of ~2.0 MV cm-1 across each pair of GaN/InGaN of the MQW structure. In the second part of my talk, I will present in-situ observations of the polarization switching process of a planar Ni/PZT/SrRuO3 capacitor using TEM. We observed the preferential, but asymmetric, nucleation and forward growth of switched c-domains at the PZT/electrode interfaces arising from the built-in electric field beneath each interface. The subsequent sideways growth was inhibited by the depolarization field due to the imperfect charge compensation at the counter electrode and preexisting a-domain walls, leading to asymmetric switching. It was found that the preexisting a-domains split into fine a- and c-domains constituting a $90^{\circ}$ stripe domain pattern during the $180^{\circ}$ polarization switching process, revealing that these domains also actively participated in the out-of-plane polarization switching. The real-time observations uncovered the origin of the switching asymmetry and further clarified the importance of charged domain walls and the interfaces with electrodes in the ferroelectric switching processes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.2141-2150
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• 2017

This study was conducted to develop a screening method using Colilert-18 and a device for the detection of E. coli from agri-food production environments and fresh vegetables. The specificity and sensitivity of Colilert-18 by temperature ($37^{\circ}C$ and $44^{\circ}C$) were evaluated with 38 E. coli and 78 non-E. coli strains. The false-positive rate was 3.8% (3/78) and 0% (0/78) at $37^{\circ}C$ and $44^{\circ}C$, respectively. The detection limit of E. coli at $37^{\circ}C$ at <1.0 log CFU/250 ml was lower than that at $44^{\circ}C$. The efficiency of the developed device, which comprised an incubator equipped with a UV lamp to detect E. coli in the field, was evaluated by measuring the temperature and UV lamp brightness. The difference between the set temperature and actual temperature of the developed device was about $1.0^{\circ}C$. When applying the developed method and device to various samples, including utensils, gloves, irrigation water, seeds, and vegetables, there were no differences in detection rates of E. coli compared with the Korean Food Code method. For sanitary disposal of culture samples after experiments, the sterilization effect of sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) tablets was assessed for use as a substitute for an autoclave. The addition of one tablet of NaDCC per 50 ml was sufficient to kill E. coli cultured in Colilert-18. These results show that the developed protocol and device can efficiently detect E. coli from agri-food production environments and vegetables.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.394-400
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• 2017

This study investigated whether culture filtrates produced by Xylella fastidiosa can be used to determine the varietal susceptibility to Pierce's disease in grapevines (Vitis spp.) as a substitute for pathogen inoculation or field screening. A bioassay of grape leaves with culture filtrates from the pathogen showed that their phytotoxicities were active and host-selective. Ethyl acetate extracts from them also showed toxicities and host selectivity in both bunches of grapes and muscadine grapes. The sensitive range of plants to the culture filtrates and their ethyl acetate extracts was consistent with the host range of the Pierce's disease pathogen. Susceptible cultivars are sensitive to even highly diluted culture filtrates, while resistant cultivars were not affected even at their original culture filtrates. Susceptible cultivars were more sensitive to the undiluted culture filtrate than were highly diluted culture filtrates, and the younger leaves were the most sensitive to the culture filtrates in grapes. Although some European grape cultivars showed moderately susceptibility in this study, the determination of varietal resistance to Pierce's disease by the treatment of culture filtrates of pathogens could provide valuable information for the preliminary selection of genetic resources and seedlings from hybridization in a disease resistant grape breeding program.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5877-5882
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• 2013

Background: The aim of the study was to determine breast cancer risk and early diagnosis applications in women aged ${\geq}50$. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive field study focused on a population of 4,815 in Mansuro$\breve{g}$lu with a 55.1% participation rate in screening. In the study, body mass index (BMI) was also evaluated in the calculation of breast cancer risk by the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (BCRA) (also called the "Gail Risk Assessment Tool"). The interviewers had a three-hour training provided by the researchers, during which interactive training methods were used and applications were supported with role-plays. Results: The mean age of the women participating in the study was $60.1{\pm}8.80$. Of these women, 57.3% were in the 50-59 age group, 71.7% were married, 57.3% were primary school graduates and 61.7% were housewives. Breast-cancer development rate was 7.4% in the women participating in the study. When they were evaluated according to their relationship with those with breast cancer, it was determined that 73.0% of them had firstdegree relatives with breast cancer. According to the assessment based on the Gail method, the women's breast cancer development risk within the next 5 years was 17.6%, whereas their calculated lifetime risk was found to be as low as 0.2%. Statistically significant differences (P=0.000) were determined between performing BSE-CBE and socio-demographic factors. Conclusions: It was determined that 17.6% of the participants had breast cancer risk. There was no statistically significant difference between the women with and without breast cancer risk in terms of early diagnosis practices, which can be regarded as a remarkable finding. It was planned to provide training about the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer for people with high-risk scores, and to conduct population-based breast cancer screening programs.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.293-297
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• 2012

Of the 169 strains of microorganisms stored in Polar and Alpine Microbial Collection of Korea Polar Research Institute, 27 strains were selected for their chitinase activity on ZoBell plates supplemented with 0.4% colloidal chitin. Among them, PAMC 21693 strain have shown the highest chitinolytic enzyme activity toward pNP-$(GlcNAc)_1$ at low temperature and the highest growth rate at $4^{\circ}C$. We cloned a full-length chitinase gene of 2,857 bp which contains an open reading frame of 2,169 bp encoding 872-amino acid polypeptide. Recombinant chitinase protein was expressed in E. coli and its molecular weight was confirmed 96 kDa. In this paper, we suggest the potential use of cold-active chitinase from polar microorganisms in the field of biotechnology.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.125-129
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• 2011

Environmental risk assessment (RA) is essential prior to the environmental release of GM crops. RA, however, costs at least 7 to 15 million US dollars and requires several years to complete field tests. Therefore, it is strongly suggested that developers of GM crops must consider all criteria for RA at the beginning stage of the development if it aims for commercialization. Previous review papers have pointed out that the "death valley" for the commercialization of GM crops is the screening stage of early GM events since many candidates are given up due to insufficient data on the molecular characterization of a GM event such as inserted gene's copy number, position of inserted site of a chromosome, flanking sequence of recombinant T-DNA, rearrangement of chromosome, and knock out of endogenous gene of host plant. Recently, Rural Development Administration (RDA) in South Korea has launched a Grand National Project named as "Next Generation of BioGreen 21 Project" from 2011 to 2020 and research funding for the development of global GM crops has been allocated to accelerate the commercialization of GM crops. In this regard, I strongly suggest that researchers involved in the development of GM crops for commercialization must conduct RA by themselves at the screening stage of pre-GM event based on the data for molecular characterization.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.216-230
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• 2005

Although the field of study in immune enhancing compounds is relatively new, natural products from plants represent a rich and promising source of novel molecules with immunomodulating properties, Microglial cells, the main immune effector cells of the brain, usually display a ramified morphology and low expression levels of immunologically relevant antigens such as MHC class I and class II. Since any compound which participates in activation of phagocytic cells contributes to the production of potentially toxic factors, the search for convenient in vitro test-systems and study of mechanisms of action of these agents are of great interest. Human blood polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells and primary microglial cells isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats were used as cellular screening tests for study of phagocytosis-stimulating action of immunomodulating agents. Numbers of phagocytic activity were evaluated by the phagocyte ingestion of yeast cells and NO-synthase activity, nitrite production, and nitroblue tetrazolium test were determined after phagocyte stimulation. It was possible to demonstrate that indexes of phagocytic activity can be used as quantitative indicators for measurement immunomodulating activity. As a positive control, Zymosan A-induced phagocytosis in both PMN cells and primary microglial cells was used. $IFN-{\gamma}$ (0.1 -1 U/ml) stimulated phagocytosis in PMN cells 1.2 times after 2 - 3 h incubation, although at higher concentrations (10 - 100 U/ml) it strongly inhibited phagocytosis. In a similar way, at higher concentrations, $IFN-{\gamma}$ (100 - 500 U/ml) suppressed phagocytosis in zymosan-A stimulated microglial cells. When Polypodium leucotomus, cambricum and vulgare extracts were tested alone, increased levels of phagocytosis were observed in PMN. In addition, microglial cells showed both increased phagocytosis and MHC class-II antigen expressions. Surprisingly, when PMN and microglia were treated with a combination of Polypodium and $IFN-{\gamma}$, phagocytosis was not inhibited. We did not find changes in NO-synthase activity and nitrite production in both microglia and PMN cells activated by different immunomodulating agents. These results indicate that primary microglial cell cultures as well as human PMN cells can provide reproducible quantitative results in screening phagocytic activity of different immunoactive compounds. Furthermore, both inhibitory or activation mechanisms might be studied using these in vitro experimental approaches.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.178-186
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• 2020

Background: Cognitive impairment is a public health burden. Our objective was to investigate associations between work hours and cognitive function. Methods: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants (n = 2,497; 50.7% men; age range 44-84 years) reported hours per week worked in all jobs in Exams 1 (2000-2002), 2 (2002-2004), 3 (2004-2005), and 5 (2010-2011). Cognitive function was assessed (Exam 5) using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (version 2), a measure of global cognitive functioning; the Digit Symbol Coding, a measure of processing speed; and the Digit Span test, a measure of attention and working memory. We used a prospective approach and linear regression to assess associations for every 10 hours of work. Results: Among all participants, associations of hours worked with cognitive function of any type were not statistically significant. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.051), longer work hours were associated with poorer global cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers, after adjustment for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, race/ethnicity, educational level, annual income, history of heart attack, diabetes, apolipoprotein E-epsilon 4 allele (ApoE4) status, birth-place, number of years in the United States, language spoken at MESA Exam 1, and work hours at Exam 5 (β = -0.55, 95% CI = -0.99, -0.09) and (β = -0.80, -1.51, -0.09), respectively. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.040), we also observed an inverse association with processing speed among blue-collar workers (adjusted β = -0.80, -1.52, -0.07). Sex, race/ethnicity, and ApoE4 did not significantly modify associations between work hours and cognitive function. Conclusion: Weak inverse associations were observed between work hours and cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.211-215
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• 2015

In case of radiation emergencies, radioactive materials released into environments can cause internal exposure of members of the public. Even though whole body counters are widely used for direct measurement of internally deposited radionuclides, those are not likely to be used at the field to rapidly screen internal exposure. In this study, we estimated the counting efficiencies of portable NaI detector for different size BOMAB phantoms using Monte Carlo transport code to apply handheld gamma spectrometers for rapid screening of internal exposure following radiological accidents. As a result of comparison for two counting geometries, counting efficiencies for sitting model were about 1.1 times higher than those for standing model. We found, however, that differences of counting efficiencies according to different size are higher than those according to counting geometry. Therefore, we concluded that when we assess internal exposure of small size people compared to the reference male, the body size should be considered to estimate more accurate radioactivity in the human body because counting efficiencies of 4-year old BOMAB phantom were about 2.4~3.1 times higher than those of reference male BOMAB phantom.