• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.108-119
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• 2024

Objectives: Abrupt changes in air pollution levels associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak present a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of air pollution on influenza risk, at a time when emission sources were less active and personal hygiene practices were more rigorous. Methods: This time-series study examined the relationship between influenza cases (n=22 874) and air pollutant concentrations from 2018 to 2021, comparing the timeframes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in and around Thailand's Khon Kaen province. Poisson generalized additive modeling was employed to estimate the relative risk of hospitalization for influenza associated with air pollutant levels. Results: Before the COVID-19 outbreak, both the average daily number of influenza hospitalizations and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 ㎛ or less (PM_2.5) concentration exceeded those later observed during the pandemic (p<0.001). In single-pollutant models, a 10 ㎍/m³ increase in PM_2.5 before COVID-19 was significantly associated with increased influenza risk upon exposure to cumulative-day lags, specifically lags 0-5 and 0-6 (p<0.01). After adjustment for co-pollutants, PM_2.5 demonstrated the strongest effects at lags 0 and 4, with elevated risk found across all cumulative-day lags (0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-4, 0-5, and 0-6) and significantly greater risk in the winter and summer at lag 0-5 (p<0.01). However, the PM_2.5 level was not significantly associated with influenza risk during the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusions: Lockdown measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic could mitigate the risk of PM_2.5-induced influenza. Effective regulatory actions in the context of COVID-19 may decrease PM_2.5 emissions and improve hygiene practices, thereby reducing influenza hospitalizations.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.687-696
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• 2018

In order to develop effective emission abatement strategies for coal-fired power plants, we analyzed the shutdown effects of coal-fired power plants on $PM_{2.5}$ concentration in June by employing air quality model for the period from 2013 to 2016. WRF (Weather Research and Forecast) and CMAQ(Community Multiscale Air Quality) models were used to quantify the impact of emission reductions on the averaged $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations in June over Chungcheongnam-do area in Korea. The resultant shutdown effects showed that the averaged $PM_{2.5}$ concentration in June decreased by 1.2% in Chungcheongnam-do area and decreased by 2.3% in the area where the surface air pollution measuring stations were located. As a result of this study, it was confirmed that it is possible to analyze policy effects considering the change of meteorology and emission and it is possible to quantitatively estimate the influence at the maximum impact region by utilizing the air quality model. The results of this study are expected to be useful as a basic data for analyzing the effect of $PM_{2.5}$ concentration change according to future emission changes.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.150-156
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• 2010

Inter-comparison of chemical transport models (CTMs) was conducted among four modeling research groups. Model performance of the ensemble approach to $O_3$ and $PM_{2.5}$ simulation was evaluated by using observational data with a time resolution of 1 or 6 hours at four sites in the Kanto area, Japan, in summer 2007. All groups applied the Community Multiscale Air Quality model. The ensemble average of the four CTMs reproduced well the temporal variation of $O_3$ (r=0.65-0.85) and the daily maximum $O_3$ concentration within a factor of 1.3. By contrast, it underestimated $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations by a factor of 1.4-2, and did not reproduce the $PM_{2.5}$ temporal variation at two suburban sites (r=~0.2). The ensemble average improved the simulation of ${SO_4}^{2-}$, ${NO_3}^-$, and ${NH_4}^+$, whose production pathways are well known. In particular, the ensemble approach effectively simulated ${NO_3}^-$, despite the large variability among CTMs (up to a factor of 10). However, the ensemble average did not improve the simulation of organic aerosols (OAs), underestimating their concentrations by a factor of 5. The contribution of OAs to $PM_{2.5}$ (36-39%) was large, so improvement of the OA simulation model is essential to improve the $PM_{2.5}$ simulation.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.238-243
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine skin adhesion rate of children's modeling clay for exposure assessment. Methods: Children's modeling clays were classified into 10 categories as PVA clay, PVA soft clay, starch-based clay, foam clay, rubber clay, oil clay, muddy clay, terra clay, paper clay and slime. A total of 26 children's clay goods was selected. Moisture content (%) and hardness of clays were measured. Five adults aged 20 to 25were recruited for experiment. Gravimetric difference of modeling clay was determined after 3 minutes playing time. Skin adhesion rate ($g/min/cm^2$) was estimated bythe amount of skin adhesion per minute (g/min) and each individual's palm surface area ($cm^2$). Results: Twenty four of the 26 children's modeling clay products were adhesive to skins. Two products of foam and rubber clay were not adhered to skin. For the 24 products, the average skin adhesion rate was $5.5{\times}10^{-4}{\pm}4.0{\times}10^{-4}g/min/cm^2$. The highest skin adhesion rate was $1.3{\times}10^{-3}{\pm}4.4{\times}10^{-4}g/min/cm^2$ for paper clay. The lowest skin adhesion rate was $4.6{\times}10^{-5}{\pm}1.1{\times}10^{-4}g/min/cm^2$ for oil clay. The skin adhesion rate was increased with increase of moisture content. Adhesion rates of some clays were varied by person and testing trials. Conclusion: The study determined skin adhesion rate of children's modeling clay. The adhesion rate is useful for exposure and risk assessments and setting safety guideline to protect children's health.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 2012

Enviromental differences in gentamicin pharmacokinetics by using population pharmacokinetic methods were compared with 20 Korean patients and 24 Korean-American appendicitis patients. Two to six blood specimens were collected from all patients at the following times : just before a regularly scheduled infusion and at 0.5 hour after the end of a 0.5 hour infusion. Nonparametric expected maximum (NPEM) algorithm for population modeling was used. The estimated parameters were the elimination rate constant (K), the slope (KS) of the relationship between K versus creatinine clearance ($C_{cr}$), the apparent volume of distribution (V), the slope (VS) of the relationship between V versus weight, gentamicin clearance (CL) and the slope (CS) of the relationship between CL versus $C_{cr}$ and the V. The output includes two marginal probability density function (PDF), means, medians, modes, variance and CV%. The mean K (KS) were $0.402{\pm}0.129\;h^{-1}(0.00486{\pm}0.00197\;[h{\cdot}ml/min/1.73\;m^2]^{-1})$ and $0.411{\pm}0.135\;h^{-1}(0.00475{\pm}0.00180\;[h{\cdot}ml/min/1.73\;m^2]^{-1})$ for Korean and Korean-American populations, respectively. The mean V (VS) were not different at $14.3{\pm}3.6l(0.241{\pm}0.0511l/kg)$ and $15.1{\pm}3.84l(0.239{\pm}0.0492l/kg)$ for Korean and Korean-American populations, respectively (p>0.2). The mean CL (CS) were $5.68{\pm}1.69l/h(0.0714{\pm}0.0222l/kg[h{\cdot}ml/min/1.73\;m^2])$ and $5.70{\pm}1.77l/h(0.0701{\pm}0.0215l/kg[h{\cdot}ml/min/1.73\;m^2])$ for Korean and Korean-American populations, respectively. There were no enviromental differences in gentamicin pharmacokinetics between Korean and Korean-American appendicitis patients.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.154-166
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• 2009

In this study, 1-hour integrated $PM_{2.5}$ mass and chemical composition concentrations were monitored at the St. Louis-Midwest Supersite in Illinois. Time-resolved samples were collected one week in each of June 2001 (22 June to 28 June), November 2001 (7 November to 13 November), and March 2002 (19 March to 25 March). A total of 427 samples were collected by CAMM (continuous ambient mass monitor) and 15 compounds were analyzed by AAS, PILS (particle-into-liquid sampler), and TOT (thermal optical transmittance) method. PMF was applied to identify the sources and apportion the $PM_{2.5}$ mass to each source for highly time resolved data. In addition, the nonparametric regression (NPR) was applied to identify the predominant directions of local sources relative to wind direction. Also, this study performed compare the NPR analysis and location of actual local point sources at the St. Louis area. The PMF modeling identified nine sources and the average mass was apportioned to gasoline vehicle, road dust, zinc smelter, copper production, secondary sulfate, diesel emission, secondary nitrate, iron+steel, and lead smelter, respectively. These results suggested that this study results will be help for $PM_{2.5}$ source apportionment studies at similar metropolitan area, establish $PM_{2.5}$ standard, and establish effective emissions reduction strategies in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2000

Effects of sea-salts on the properties of aerosol collected in a coastal region were studied by applying a gas-particle equilibrium model SCAPE to the measurement data from Korea Cheju Island in summer 1994. It was found that the observed higher ammonium concentrations in fine particles (PM2.5) than in TSP were caused by forced evaporation of ammonium in coarse fraction of aerosol by sea-salts and the degree of evaporation was quantified through an application of SCAPE. By subtracting the sea-salt fraction from the measured concentra-tions the changes of aerosol property were also studied. The concentrations of nitrate at both TSP and PM2.5 decreased when alkaline sea-salt fraction was removed from the measured data. Estimates of aerosol acidity increased for most samples with sea salt loadings, However in some cases with high mass fractions of sea-salt components the aerosol acidity of PM2.5 decreased slightly. This is though to be related with the formation of solid salt with the removal of sea-salts.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.74-80
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• 2011

Population pharmacokinetics for gentamicin were compared with 20 Korean patients (14 male and 6 female) and 25 Caucasian appendicitis patients (16 male and 9 female). Two to six blood specimens were collected from all patients at the following times : just before a regularly scheduled infusion and at 0.5 hour after the end of a 0.5 hour infusion. Nonparametric expected maximum(NPEM) algorithm for population modeling was used. The estimated parameters were the elimination rate constant(K), the slope(KS) of the relationship between K versus creatinine clearance(Ccr), the apparent volume of distribution (V), the slope(VS) of the relationship between V versus weight, gentamicin clearance(CL) and the slope(CS) of the relationship between CL versus Ccr and the V. The output includes two marginal probability density function(PDF), means, medians, modes, variance, skewness, kurtosis, and CV%. The mean K(KS) were$0.402{\pm}0.129hr^{-1}$ ($0.00486{\pm}0.00197[hr{\cdot}mL/min/1.73m^2]^{-1}$) and $0.425{\pm}0.137hr^{-1}$($0.00432{\pm}0.00168[hr{\cdot}mL/min/1.73m^2]^{-1}$) for Korean and Caucasian populations, respectively. The mean V(VS) were not different at $14.3{\pm}3.69L$($0.241{\pm}0.0511L/kg$) and $15.8{\pm}4.81L$($0.236{\pm}0.0531L/kg$) for Korean and Caucasian populations, respectively (P>0.2). The mean CL(CS) were $5.68{\pm}1.69L/hr$ ($0.0714{\pm}0.0222L/kg[hr{\cdot}mL/min/1.73m^2]$) and $6.29{\pm}1.84L/hr$ ($0.0629{\pm}0.0189L/kg[hr{\cdot}mL/min/1.73m^2]$) for Korean and Caucasian populations, respectively. There are no differences in gentamicin pharmacokinetics between Korean and Caucasian appendicitis patients.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.133-145
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• 2001

The receptor modeling is one of the statistical methods to achieve reasonable air pollution strategies. The pur-pose of this study was to survey the concentration variability oi inorganic elements and ionic species in the PM-10 particles, to qualitatively characterize emission sources by an advanced algorithm called positive matrix factoriza-tion(PMF) as a receptor model that can strictly provide results in every loading matrix. A total of 254 samples was collected by a PM-10 high volume air sampler from Mar. 1997 to Feb. 1998 in Kyung Hee University at Suwon Campus. Fourteen chemical species(Zn, Cu, Fe, Pb, Al, Mn, $Na^{+}$, NH$_4$+, $K^{+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $SO_4^{2-}$, $NO_{3}^{-}$, and $Cl^{-}$) were determined by AAS and IC methods. The study results showed that the average monthly concentration of PM-10 particles were 86.3$\mu\textrm{g}$/$\textrm{m}^3$ in March (maximum) and 28.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/$\textrm{m}^3$ in August(minimum), respectively. The concentrations of Na+, NH$_4$+, $K^{+}$ and $Cl^{-}$ in winter, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$ and $NO_{3}^{-}$, in spring, and $SO_4^{2-}$ in summer showed the largest peak concentration for the respective season. Through and app-lication of a PMF program of Pm-10 concentration data of Suwon, 9 sources were qualitatively identified , such as incineration source, oil burning source, soil related source, open burning source automobile source, coal burning sources, secondary sulfate related source, and secondary nitrate related source.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2007

This study was carried out to estimate the emission reduction rates for the regional allowable emissions by special measures to achieve the target air quality in Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA). A modeling system was designed to validate the details in enforcement regulations set up by local governments based on the current status and plans for air quality improvement. Modeling system was composed of meteorological model (MM5), emission model (SMOKE), and air quality model (CMAQ). Predicted results by this system show quiet well not only daily air pollutants concentration but also the tendencies of wind direction, wind speed and temperature. To achieve the target air quality in Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), emission allowances are estimated by seasons and regions. Referring to the base year 2002, it was estimated that emission reduction rates to achieve the intermediate goal in 2007 were 14.2% and 16.6% for NOx and $PM_{10}$, respectively. It was also estimated that 52% of NOx and 48% of $PM_{10}$ reductions from the base year 2002 would be required to accomplish the air quality improvement goal of 22 ppb for $NO_2$, and $40mg/m^3$ for $PM_{10}$ in year 2014. To improve $NO_2$ and $PM_{10}$ concentration through emissions reduction policies, it was found that emissions reduction for the on-road mobile sources would be the most effective in SMA.