Biomedical subjects

Han S Kim

Publications and source records attributed to Han S Kim.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Effects of microbially mediated redox conditions on PAH-soil interactions.

The impacts of microbially mediated redox conditions on the bioavailability of persistent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils and sediments have received little study, despite the fact that most water-saturated soils and sediments spend a significant portion of the time under reduced conditions. To address this need an uncontaminated surface soil was incubated under various redox conditions (aerobic, nitrate-reducing, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic). Depending on redox conditions, different quantities of fulvic and humic acids were liberated as dissolved organic matter (DOM) from the soil during incubation. The DOM released under highly reduced conditions was more nonpolar, aromatic, and polydisperse, of higher molecular weight, and had a higher sorption capacity for pyrene compared to that obtained from relatively oxic incubations. The soil-phase organic matter incubated under reduced conditions also became relatively more aromatic, containing nonpolar organic molecules of lower oxygen contents and exhibiting higher capacity and more nonlinear and hysteric sorption/desorption behavior for pyrene. These observations support the hypothesis that reduced environments established by indigenous soil microbes alter soil organic matter in a matter similar to diagenetic processes. Such humification-like alteration occurred principally in relatively more labile fractions of soil organic matter. These findings are important for assessing the ultimate fate and exposure risk of hydrophobic organic contaminants in soils and sediments where living microorganisms play a significant role in formation and evolution of soil/sediment organic matter.

Oxidation-Reduction↗

PubMed2005

Women and postfertilization effects of birth control: consistency of beliefs, intentions and reported use.

BACKGROUND: This study assesses the consistency of responses among women regarding their beliefs about the mechanisms of actions of birth control methods, beliefs about when human life begins, the intention to use or not use birth control methods that they believe may act after fertilization or implantation, and their reported use of specific methods. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered in family practice and obstetrics and gynecology clinics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Participants included women ages 18-50 presenting for any reason and women under age 18 presenting for family planning or pregnancy care. Analyses were based on key questions addressing beliefs about whether specific birth control methods may act after fertilization, beliefs about when human life begins, intention to use a method that may act after fertilization, and reported use of specific methods. The questionnaire contained no information about the mechanism of action of any method of birth control. Responses were considered inconsistent if actual use contradicted intentions, if one intention contradicted another, or if intentions contradicted beliefs. RESULTS: Of all respondents, 38% gave consistent responses about intention to not use or to stop use of any birth control method that acted after fertilization, while 4% gave inconsistent responses. The corresponding percentages for birth control methods that work after implantation were 64% consistent and 2% inconsistent. Of all respondents, 34% reported they believed that life begins at fertilization and would not use any birth control method that acts after fertilization (a consistent response), while 3% reported they believed that life begins at fertilization but would use a birth control method that acts after fertilization (inconsistent). For specific methods of birth control, less than 1% of women gave inconsistent responses. A majority of women (68% or greater) responded accurately about the mechanism of action of condoms, abstinence, sterilization, and abortion, but a substantial percentage of women (between 19% and 57%) were uncertain about the mechanisms of action of oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices (IUDs), Depo-Provera, or natural family planning. CONCLUSION: Women who believe that life begins at fertilization may not intend to use a birth control method that could have postfertilization effects. More research is needed to understand the relative importance of postfertilization effects for women in other populations, and in relation to other properties of and priorities for birth control methods. However, many women were uncertain about the mechanisms of action of specific methods. To respect the principles of informed consent, some women may need more education about what is known and not known about the mechanisms of action of birth control methods.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Optimizing contaminant desorption and bioavailability in dense slurry systems. 2. PAH bioavailability and rates of degradation.

The effects of mechanical mixing on rates of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) biodegradation in dense geosorbent slurry (67% solids content, w/w) systems were evaluated using laboratory-scale intermittently mixed batch bioreactors. A PAH-contaminated soil and a phenanthrene-sorbed mineral sorbent (alpha-Al2O3) were respectively employed as slurry solids in aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation studies. Both slurries exhibited a characteristic behavior of pseudoplastic non-Newtonian fluids, and the impeller revolution rate and its diameter had dramatic impacts on power and torque requirements in their laminar flow mixing. Rates of phenanthrene biodegradation were markedly enhanced by relatively low-level auger mixing under both aerobic and anaerobic (denitrifying) conditions. Parameters for empirical models correlating biodegradation rate coefficient (k(b)) values to the degree of mixing were similar to those for correlations between mass transfer (desorption) rate coefficient (k(r)) values for rapidly desorbing fractions of soil organic matter and degree of mixing reported in a companion study, supporting a conclusion that performance-efficient and cost-effective enhancements of PAH mass transfer (desorption) and its biodegradation processes can be achieved by the introduction of optimal levels of reactor-scale mechanical mixing.

Aluminum Oxide↗

PubMed2005

Optimizing contaminant desorption and bioavailability in dense slurry systems. 1. Rheology, mechanical mixing, and PAH desorption.

Intermittently mixed batch reactor (IMBR) systems were employed to evaluate the effects of mechanical mixing and corresponding power consumption on rates of phenanthrene desorption from natural and synthetic model sorbent phases to the aqueous phase in dense slurry reactors. Sorbent slurries comprising 57-67% (w/w) solids exhibited non-Newtonian (pseudoplastic) fluid behaviors, with apparent viscosities varying with shear rate. Dimensionless power numbers varied inversely with the Reynolds number under laminar flow conditions, indicating that small increases in mixing revolution number and auger size effect significant increases in power and torque requirements for the mechanical mixing of dense slurries. Rates of release of phenanthrene associated with rapidly desorbing or labile fractions of sorbent organic matter (SOM) to the aqueous phase were markedly enhanced by relatively low-level auger mixing, but significantly less further enhancement was observed as higher levels of mixing were applied. Conversely, desorption of phenanthrene associated with slowly desorbing or resistant fractions of SOM was relatively unaffected by auger mixing, being limited as it is by slow intraparticle-scale diffusion processes that are not enhanced by reactor-scale mixing. The experimental results lead to and support a conclusion that auger mixing at relatively low intensity is an attractive strategy for optimizing dense slurry reactor systems for remediation of hydrophobic organic contaminants associated with labile (rapidly desorbing) fractions of SOM with respect to performance efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2005

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon behavior in bioactive soil slurry reactors amended with a nonionic surfactant.

The effects of an ethoxylated sorbitan fatty ester nonionic surfactant (Tween 80) on the bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were examined by using soil-free and dense-slurry (67% solids content, by wt) systems containing a creosote-contaminated field soil. The dispersed-micelle-phase PAHs in soil-free systems were not readily bioavailable to the mixed consortium of microbes indigenous to the creosote-contaminated soil. Instead, the microbes partially and preferentially utilized readily available portions of the surfactant as carbon sources (16-18% of the initial surfactant dose). This selective microbial attack resulted in destabilization of dispersed-phase micelles and significant decreases in molar solubilization ratio and micelle-water partition coefficient values. Remarkably high dosages (>20 g/L) of Tween 80 were required to enhance mobilization of the sorbed PAHs via micelle association because of the sorption of Tween 80 to the soil employed. The PAHs released from the destabilized micelles in soil-slurry systems either associated with sorbed-phase surfactants or readsorbed to soil organic matter too rapidly to be biologically accessed, even by the acclimated PAH-degrading microbes present. The work provides important new information and practical insights to surfactant solubilization and mobilization technology applications for the bioremediation of PAH-contaminated soils and sediments.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMed2003

Parity and the risk of Down's syndrome.

Interpretation of studies that have examined parity as a risk factor for Down's syndrome has been hindered by inadequate control for maternal age and/or failure to account for the differential use of prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination between low-parity and high-parity women. In this case-control study, the authors used exact matching on maternal age-minimize confounding and evaluated the potential impact of differential termination. A total of 898 cases of Down's syndrome and 4,488 controls were identified using Washington State birth certificates from 1984-1998. There was a trend towards increasing risk of Down's syndrome with increasing parity in both younger (age <35 years) and older (age > or =35 years) mothers. Restriction to women with no indication of amniocentesis (for whom differential termination is unlikely) resulted in a blunting of the odds ratios; however, a trend for parity remained. After restriction, odds ratios were as high as 1.65 (95% confidence interval: 1.13, 2.40) in younger women with a parity of three (compared with a parity of zero) and 2.41 (95% confidence interval: 1.41, 4.12) in older women with a parity of four or more. Although the odds ratios for older women were probably biased upwards because of underreporting of amniocentesis on birth certificates, these data support an association between parity and Down's syndrome.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Preferential surfactant utilization by a PAH-degrading strain: effects on micellar solubilization phenomena.

Biodegradable nonionic Tween series surfactants were employed to assess the effects of synthetic surfactants on the bioavailability of a target polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), phenanthrene, in soil/sediment-free micellar solutions. Dosages of surfactants in excess of their respective critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) dramatically enhanced solubilization of phenanthrene, but the micellar-solubilized phenanthrene was neither directly nor readily bioavailable to the PAH-degrading strain, Sphingomonas paucimobilis EPA 505, used in these bioavailability experiments. The microorganism preferred instead to utilize hydrophobic fractions of the Tween surfactants as a carbon source, resulting in an imbalance of amphiphilic moieties in surfactant molecules and associated destabilization of micelles. This effect was assessed by measurements of surface tension, CMCs, weight-based PAH solubilization ratios, and by characterizations of the surfactants via HPLC separation and emulsification behavior. The observations and analyses lead to a conclusion that preferential biological destabilization of surfactant micelles effects an associated release of phenanthrene to the aqueous phase. The phenanthrene so released then apparently reverts to a crystallized form that appears to be bioavailable only through normal re-dissolution to the aqueous phase. This is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to characterize and quantify changes in the properties and solubilization behaviors of surfactant micelles resulting from their partial and preferential biodegradation. The associated re-deposition of previously micellar-solubilized PAHs observed and the loss of solubilization capacity of recovered surfactants have significant implications for applications of surfactant-enhanced bioremediation of contaminated soils and sediments.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Assessing the risk factors for suicidal thoughts at a nontraditional commuter school.

The sample of students completing the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) Survey at the University of Utah differs from the national reference group for the NCHA 2003 in age, employment, residence, and marital status. The purpose of this study is to determine if the defining characteristics of a commuter school increase the risk for suicidal thoughts. During the fall semester of 2004, the University of Utah implemented a randomized electronic survey assessing the student body's health status in several areas. The authors compared 88 respondents who endorsed seriously considered suicide in the previous 12 months were with the remaining 954 respondents to identify discriminating variables. Those students who seriously considered suicide more likely lived off campus, indicated they were emotionally abused, were in only fair health, experienced being assaulted, experienced unwanted sexual touching, or were not heterosexual. Students who were employed were significantly less likely to consider suicide.

Adolescent↗