Soil properties and heavy metal (HM) concentrations in the field soils where balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorum, BF) were cultivated, were investigated together with HM (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) ...accumulation by the BF roots. Basically, in most soils examined (51-97% among 65 samples), the chemical properties including soil pH, organic matter, available-P, and exchangeable cation contents appeared to be lower than the optimal ranges for balloon flower cultivation. There were no samples exceeding the standard limits for HM in soils. Instead, the total HM concentration levels in soils appeared to be maintained at around background levels for general soil in Korea. This implied that elevated HM accumulation in the soils caused by any possible input sources was unlikely. Even though the BF cultivated soils were not contaminated by HM, it was appeared that substantial amount of Cd was accumulated in BF roots with 1.5% and 35% roots samples exceeding the standard limits legislated for BF root ($0.81mg\;kg^{-1}DW$) and herbal plants ($0.3mg\;kg^{-1}DW$), respectively. This implied that the soil HM standard limits based on the total concentration does not reflect well the metal accumulation by plants and also it is likely that the Cd standard limits for BF and herbal plants is too restrict.
In general, plant roots accumulate more heavy metals than the above ground organs such as leaf, stem, and fruit. This implies that root medicinal plants would be an issue with excessive heavy metal ...accumulation. Therefore, the current study was carried out to investigate the distribution of heavy metal (focused on Cd and Pb) concentrations in soils and medicinal plant roots grown in different region of Korea. Total 293 samples for each soil and plant were collected along the national wide. Soil pH, total and phytoavailable metal concentrations (1 M $NH_4NO_3$ extracted) in soils were determined and heavy metal concentrations in root of the medicinal plants were analyzed. Heavy metal concentrations of the soil samples studied were not exceeded standard limits legislated in 'Soil Environmental Conservation Act', except 2 samples for Cu. However, substantial amount of Cd was accumulated in medicinal plant roots with 29% samples exceeding the standard limit legislated in 'Pharmaceutical Affairs Act' while all plant samples were lower than the standard limit value for Pb. Also the current study demonstrated that cadmium concentrations in the roots were governed by the phytoavailable Cd in soils, which decreased as soil pH increased. From this result, application of heavy metal immobilization technique using a pH change-induced immobilizing agents can be suggested for safer root medicinal plant production.
Expression Levels of Plasma Angiogenic Factors during Early Pregnancy in Hanwoo Bae, S.H. (National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Suwon, Republic of Korea); Yang, B.C. (National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Suwon, Republic of Korea); Joo, S.C. (Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea) ...
Reproductive & developmental biology,
12/2008, Letnik:
32, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This study was conducted to compare the expression pattern of the specific factors associated with pregnancy and angiogenesis during early pregnancy in Hanwoo. Synchronized female Hanwoo (4~6 ...year-old) were inseminated artificially. After 10 weeks after artificial insemination (AI), the pregnancy was tested by rectal palpation method. Three pregnant and non-pregnant Hanwoo were used in this experiment, respectively. The plasma progesterone level was measured by ELISA. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression of pregnancy associated glycoprotein (PAG) or angiogenic factors (VEGF, B-FGF, ANP-1, and TIE-2). The plasma P4 level was increase gradually in pregnant group and maintained high level. The concentration of PAG was significantly higher from 5∨th weeks in pregnant group compared to that of non-pregnant group (p less than 0.05). The concentrations of the VEGF (p less than 0.05), B-FGF (p less than 0.05), and ANP-1 (p less than 0.05) were significantly increased from 6∨th or 7∨th week after AI in pregnant group, respectively. And the intensity of TIE-2, ANP-1 receptor, was well matched with ANP-1 (p less than 0.05). Taken together, it can be postulated that the blood vessels connected with fetus and dam were formed dramatically around 40 days after AI, because the expression levels of the angiogenic factors were increased significantly from this time in pregnant Hanwoo.
고온초전도체의 DC 전압 - 전류 특성 류경우; 이주영; 마용호 ...
한국초전도.저온논문지, 8(3),
09/2006, Letnik:
8, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Odprti dostop
A high temperature supercon-ductor (HTS) has been developed for power applications such as power cables, fault current limiters and superconducting magnetic energy storage devices. For such ...applications it is required to understand the DC voltage-current characteristic of the HTS, which is important in analyzing AC loss and flux flow loss quantitatively. In this work, we have experimentally investigated influence of several factors. e.g. critical current density, degradation and AC external magnetic field, on the DC voltage-current characteristic. The measured results have been discussed in engineering application point of view.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is the third most common cancer in Korea, has a very poor prognosis. However, only a few studies have performed a comprehensive survival-related analysis in all ...patients who were consecutively diagnosed and treated over a given period of time. The aim of this study was to determine the 5-year survival rate and its prognostic factors among HCC patients.
In total, 257 patients who were consecutively diagnosed with HCC between January 2000 and December 2003 were followed until death or until December 2008. We analyzed their survival outcomes according to their clinical characteristics, tumor staging, and treatment modalities, and determined the independent prognostic factors affecting survival.
The patients were aged 59±10 years (mean±SD). During the follow-up period, 223 patients (86.8%) died and the overall median survival was 10.8 months; the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 44.4%, 21.0%, and 12.1%, respectively. The outcomes in patients with tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage I or II and Child-Pugh class A or B were significantly better with surgical resection than with other treatment modalities (P<0.01). Patients who underwent supplementary transcatheter arterial chemoembolization as a second-line treatment after surgical resection had better outcomes than those who underwent surgical resection alone (P=0.02). Initial symptoms, Child-Pugh class, serum alpha-fetoprotein, tumor size, portal vein thrombosis, and TNM stage were found to be independent prognostic factors for survival among HCC patients.
This retrospective cohort study elucidated survival outcomes and prognostic factors affecting survival in HCC patients at a single center.
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