• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.209-216
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• 2021

Background: The article presents the results of studies performed in order to develop a new method of airborne potassium bromate(V) determination at workplaces. Methods: The method is based on a collection of the inhalable fraction of potassium bromate(V) using the IOM Sampler, then extraction of bromates with deionized water and chromatographic analysis of the obtained solution. The analysis was performed using ion chromatography with conductometric detection. The tests were performed on a Dionex IonPac®AS22 analytic column (250 × 4 mm, 6 ㎛) with AG22 precolumn (50 × 4 mm 11 ㎛). Results: The method provides for potassium bromate(V) determination within the concentration range of 0.043 ÷ 0.88 mg/m³ for an air sample of 0.72 m³ in volume, i.e., 0.1-2 times the exposure limit value as proposed in Poland. The method was validated in accordance with PN-EN 482. The obtained validation data are as follows: measuring range: 3.1-63.4 ㎍/mL, limit of detection (LOD) = 0.018 ㎍/mL and limit of quantification (LOQ) = 0.053 ㎍/mL. The developed method has been tested in the work environment, on laboratory employees having contact with potassium bromate(V). Conclusion: The analytical method allowed the determination of the inhalable fraction of airborne potassium bromate(V) at workplaces and can be used to assess occupational exposure.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.2003-2007
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• 2011

We report a highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platform for the selective trace analysis of mercury (II) ions in drinkable water using aptamer-conjugated silver nanoparticles. Here, an aptamer designed to specifically bind to $Hg^{2+}$ ions in aqueous solution was labelled with a TAMRA moiety at the 5' end and used as a Raman reporter. Polyamine spermine tetrahydrochloride (spermine) was used to promote surface adsorption of the aptamer probes onto the silver nanoparticles. When $Hg^{2+}$ ions are added to the system, binding of $Hg^{2+}$ with T-T pairs results in a conformational rearrangement of the aptamer to form a hairpin structure. As a result of the reduced of electrostatic repulsion between silver nanoparticles, aggregation of silver nanoparticles occurs, and the SERS signal is significantly increased upon the addition of $Hg^{2+}$ ions. Under optimized assay conditions, the concentration limit of detection was estimated to be 5 nM, and this satisfies a limit of detection below the EPA defined limit of 10 nM in drinkable water.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.389-392
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• 2019

When conducting an exposure assessment, the primary goal of the industrial hygienist is to fully characterize the worker's exposure during a work shift to compare it with an occupational exposure limit. This applies regardless of the duration of the work activity as an activity that is relatively short in duration can still present exposure in excess of the occupational exposure limit even when normalized over an 8-hr shift. This goal, however, is often impeded by the specification of a minimum sample volume in the published sampling method, which may prevent the sample from being collected or submitted for analysis. Removing the specification of minimum sample volume (or adjusting it from a requirement to a recommendation), in contrast, allows for a broader assessment of jobs that consist of short-duration and high-exposure activities and also eliminates the unnecessary practice of running sampling pumps in clean air to collect a specified, minimum volume.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.134-140
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• 2016

An envelope protection system is a control system that allows a submarine to operate freely using its own operational envelope without exceeding the structural limit, dynamic limit, and control input limit. In this paper, an envelope protection system for the pitch angle of a submarine is designed using a dynamic trim algorithm. A linear quadratic regulator and artificial neural network are used for the true dynamics approximation. A submarine maneuvering simulation program developed using experimental data is used to validate the designed envelope protection system. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the designed envelope protection system.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.1035-1037
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• 1994

An ultrasensitive and selective stripping voltammetric scheme for the determination of rhodium is described. By the use of combined accumulation and catalytic effects in formaldehyde-hydrochloric acid medium, substantial improvement in the limit of detection can be obtained. Optimal experimental conditions were found to be 0.42 M hydrochloric acid solution containing 0.008${\%}$ formaldehyde, an accumulation potential of -0.70 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and an accumulation time of 20 s. The stripping mode was differential pulse voltammetry. In these conditions the limit of detection lies at 2 ${\times}$ l0$^{-12}$ M (0.21 ppt). The relative standard deviation at 5 ${\times}$ l0$^{-11}$ M was 4.9${\%}$ (n=5). There were no serious interferences from other platinum group metal ions being the tolerable amounts more than 500 times that of rhodium.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1398-1403
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• 2016

The simultaneous detection and accurate identification of hepatitis A virus (HAV) is critical in food safety and epidemiological studies to prevent the spread of HAV outbreaks. Towards this goal, a one-step duplex reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR method was developed targeting the VP1/P2B and VP3/VP1 regions of the HAV genome for the qualitative detection of HAV. An HAV RT-qPCR standard curve was produced for the quantification of HAV RNA. The detection limit of the duplex RT-PCR method was 2.8 × 10¹ copies of HAV. The PCR products enabled HAV genotyping analysis through DNA sequencing, which can be applied for epidemiological investigations. The ability of this duplex RT-PCR method to detect HAV was evaluated with HAV-spiked samples of fresh lettuce, frozen strawberries, and oysters. The limit of detection of the one-step duplex RT-PCR for each food model was 9.4 × 10² copies/20 g fresh lettuce, 9.7 × 10³ copies/20 g frozen strawberries, and 4.1 × 10³ copies/1.5 g oysters. Use of a one-step duplex RT-PCR method has advantages such as shorter time, decreased cost, and decreased labor owing to the single amplification reaction instead of four amplifications necessary for nested RT-PCR.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 2021

Haemonchosis remains a significant problem in small ruminants. In this study, the assay of recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) combined with the lateral flow strip (LFS-RPA) was established for the rapid detection of Haemonchus contortus in goat feces. The assay used primers and a probe targeting a specific sequence in the ITS-2 gene. We compared the performance of the LFS-RPA assay to a PCR assay. The LFS-RPA had a detection limit of 10 fg DNA, which was 10 times less compared to the lowest detection limit obtained by PCR. Out of 24 goat fecal samples, LFS-RPA assay detected H. contortus DNA with 95.8% sensitivity, compared to PCR, 79.1% sensitivity. LFS-RPA assay did not detect DNA from other related helminth species and demonstrated an adequate tolerance to inhibitors present in the goat feces. Taken together, our results suggest that LFS-RPA assay had a high diagnostic accuracy for the rapid detection of H. contortus and merits further evaluation.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.988-992
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• 2008

A poly(methyl red) film-modified glassy carbon electrode (PMRE) was fabricated for determination of norfloxacin (NFX). The electrochemical behavior of NFX was investigated and a well-defined oxidation peak with high sensitivity was observed at the film electrode. PMRE greatly enhanced the oxidation peak current of NFX owing to the extraordinary properties of poly(methyl red) film. Based on this, a sensitive and simple voltammetric method was developed for measurement of NFX. A sensitive linear voltammetric response for NFX was obtained in the concentration range of $1\;{\times}\;10^{-6}\;-\;1\;{\times}\;10^{-4}$ mol/L and the detection limit was $1\;{\times}\;10^{-7}$ mol/L using linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The proposed method possessed advantages such as low detection limit, fast response, low cost and simplicity. The practical application of this new analytical method was demonstrated with NFX pharmaceuticals.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.127-137
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• 2002

Phenolic compounds in air are toxic even at their low concentrations. We had evaluated a total of five phenolic compounds (Phenol, o-Cresol, m-Cresol, 2-Nitrophenol and 4-Chloro-3-methylphenol) in artificial air using a combination of ATD/GC/MS. To compare the adsorption efficiency of these phenolic compounds, three adsorbents (Tenax TA, Carbotrap and Carbopack B) were tested. Tenax TA adsorbent was most effective of all the adsorbents used for the efficiency test. Five phenolic compounds were found to be very stable on adsorbent tubes for 4 days at room temperature. Detection limit of five phenolic compounds ranged from 0.05 to 0.08 ppb (when assumed to collect 10 L air). The calibration curve was linear over the range of 22∼ 164 ng. The reproducibility was less than 4%. Sampling of duplicate pairs (DPs) was made to demonstrate duplicate precision and sampling efficiency.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.579-587
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• 2020

Novel silane grafted bentonite was obtained using the natural bentonite as precursor material. The material which is termed as nanocomposite was characterized by the Fourier Transform Infra-red (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The surface imaging and elemental mapping was performed using Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM/EDX) technique. The electroanalytical studies were performed using the nanocomposite electrode. The electroactive surface area of nanocomposite electrode was significantly increased than the pristine bentonite or bare carbon paste based working electrode. The impedance spectroscopic studies were conducted to simulate the equivalent circuit and Nyquist plots were drawn for the carbon paste electrode and nanocomposite electrodes. A single step oxidation/reduction process occurred for As(III) having ΔE value 0.36 V at pH 2.0. The anodic stripping voltammetry was performed for concentration dependence studies of As(III) (0.5 to 20.0 ㎍/L) and reasonably a good linear relationship was obtained. The detection limit of the As(III) detection was calculated as 0.00360±0.00002 ㎍/L having with observed relative standard deviations (RSD) less than 4%. The presence of several cations and anions has not affected the detection of As(III) however, the presence of Cu(II) and Mn(II) affected the detection of As(III). The selectivity of As(III) was achieved using the Tlawng river water sample spiked with As(III).