• Land and Housing Review
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.111-120
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• 2023

Indoor air quality has become increasingly important with the increase in time spent in residential environments, impact of external fine dust, yellow dust, and the post-COVID 19 pandemic. Residential mechanical ventilation plays a key role in addressing indoor air quality. The legal standard for residential air changes per hour in Korea is 0.5 ACH. However, there are no standards for the location of supply and return vents. This study atempts to analyze the impact of ventilation performance based on the location of supply and return vents. An experiment was conducted using the CO₂ tracer gas concentration decay method in a mock-up house set inside a large chamber to minimize external influences. The experimental results indicated that the commonly used combination of 2 supply and 2 return vents in living room spaces had a lower mean age of air than the combination of 1 supply and 2 return vents. Using multiple supply and return vents had lower mean age of air than using just 1 supply and 1 return vent.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.120-128
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• 2003

Purpose: Recently, while the authors were experiencing that the epidemic period of rotaviral infection happened more in the early spring, we tried to find out how the outbreaks of rotaviral infection are changing in detail depending on the weather condition since it has something to do with the climate factors and PM10. Methods: Fourteen hundreds seventy nine patients who were proved to be positive to rotavirus were chosen among children less than 5 years old from January 1995 to June 2003. Among various climate factors, monthly average temperature, humidity, rainfall and PM10 were selected. Results: Rotaviral infection was most active in 2002 as 309 (20.9%) patients. It has been the spring that is the most active period of rotaviral infection since 2000. The temperature (RR=0.9423, CI=0.933424~0.951163), rainfall (RR=1.0024, CI=1.001523~1.003228) and PM10 (RR=1.0123, CI=1.009385~1.015248) were significantly associated with the monthly distribution of rotaviral infection. Conclusion: Through this study we determined that the epidemic period of rotaviral infection is changed to spring, which is different from the usual seasonal periods such as late fall or winter as reported in previous articles. As increased PM10 which could give serious influence to the human body, and changing pattern of climate factors such as monthly average temperature and rainfall have something to do with the rotaviral infection, we suppose that further study concerning this result is required in the aspects of epidemiology, biology and atmospheric science.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.431-446
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• 2018

In this study, chemical characteristics of $PM_{2.5}$ samples collected in an agricultural area in Nonsan of Korea were investigated focusing on of black carbon, 3 inorganic ions and 22 trace elements. It was found that the relative error and relative standard deviation of many trace elements fell below 10%, which indicates good analytical accuracy and precision. The mean values of $PM_{2.5}$ in an agricultural area were exceeded by new Korean air quality standard of March 2018. The concentration of $PM_{2.5}$ was well correlated with those of black carbon and ions. The concentrations of trace elements were in a wide range of seven orders of a magnitude. Based on these $PM_{2.5}$ data sets, a total of 6 sources were identified using PMF (Positive Matrix Factorization; secondary aerosol (34.4%), soil/road dust (20.1%), biomass burning (16.9%), incineration/fuel combustion (13.2%), vehicle exhaust(12.2%), sea-salt (3.17%). Results of our study indicate that it is very important to control illegal burning activities in agricultural area.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.639-646
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• 2003

In this study, we evaluated genotoxicity of heavy metals among particulates with Tradescantia-micronucleus (Trad-MCN) assay in the various working environment. In a synthetic fiber factory and a rubber factory, chromium concentration was higher than any other heavy metals. On the other hand, nickel concentration was the highest in a semi-conductor factory. The difference in genotoxicity among the working environment was statistically significant as Trad-MCN frequencies were 4.07 $\pm$0.35 MCN/100 tetrads (p< 0.01) for the synthetic fiber factory,5.73 $\pm$0.81 MCN/100 tetrads (p< 0.01) for the rubber factory, and 15.60$\pm$2.58 (p< 0.01) (p< 0.001) for the semi -conductor factory. As a result, heavy metals among particulates in the working environment can be considered to have hazardous potential to human health, although they cannot directly induce DNA damage to the workers in the working environments.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.728-733
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• 2007

Presence and distribution of bacteria and fungi in inner compartment of PCs(Personal Computers) were investigated. Samples for the analysis were collected from inside of PCs which had been used in various facilities including public computer facilities, laboratories and computer training rooms of a university. Total number of PC examined in this study was 51 each. When the total CFU(colony forming unit) of the inner compartment of the PCs was measured, the bacterial count was found to be dependent on the operation time(total running time) of PCs. When the distribution of bacteria in the inner compartment of PCs was estimated, CPU(Central Processing Unit) cooling fan area showed the highest bacterial concentration(average 605 $CFU/cm^2$). In the case of the fungi, various opportunistic pathogens including Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. were isolated and identified in the inner compartment of PCs. And the average of bacterial number in the dust collected from the PCs was 212 CFU/mg. These results indicated that handling of PC might have a risk of infection by the microorganism.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.668-675
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• 2019

Fine dust in air pollutants is recognized as one of the most serious social environmental problems. Most of the NOx is generated in a combustion process such as that of a coal-fired power plant, and therefore efficient elimination of the NOx from the coal-fired power plants is needed. This study investigates the removal efficiency of using $TiO_2$, a photocatalyst, to remove NOx by Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). To evaluate the NOx removal efficiency, $TiO_2$ catalyst and phosphate binder were mixed on the surface of the $Al_2O_3$ substrate with the exothermic agent, and the substrate was heat-treated. The NOx removal efficiency of the catalysts was evaluated according to the temperature, and XRD, SEM, TG-DTA and BET analyzes were performed to investigate the physicochemical properties of the catalysts. NOx removal efficiency was 58.7%~65.9% at 20min, 63.7~66.0% at 30min with temperature change according to time($250^{\circ}C{\sim}500^{\circ}C$). The $TiO_2$ used in the SCR for NOx removal is judged to have the most efficient removal efficiency at $300^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.159-168
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• 2019

Plasticizers, which are added to plastics, can cause exudation, which means that the plasticizer comes out from surface of the plastics. This causes the surface of plastic artworks to become sticky, and this allows dust and pollutants to become attached to the surface. Therefore, in this study, the degradation characteristics and chemical cleaning methods of each type of plasticizer are evaluated using PVC specimens. To evaluate the degradation characteristics and chemical cleaning methods, microscopic observation, chromaticity and weight measurement, and FT-IR spectroscopy were performed. The results showed that PVCs containing different plasticizers have different degradation patterns. Especially, the PVC containing TOTM showed discoloration and exudation. In the evaluation of the chemical cleaning methods, ethyl alcohol and KOH solution showed good effects, but their stability was not good. Surfactant was found to have a good cleaning effect and stability as a cleaner for exudated plasticizers.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.60-66
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• 2011

The$PM_{10}$ concentrations in the underground should be monitored for the health of commuters on the subway system. Seoul Metro and Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation are measuring several air pollutants regularly. In this paper, the reliability of the instruments using light scattering method is improved with the help of a linear regression analysis technique to measure the $PM_{10}$ concentrations continuously in the subway stations. In addition, an USN monitoring system is implemented to display and record the data of $PM_{10}$, CO/$CO_2$, humidity, and temperature. To transmit and receive these measured sensor data, 2.4GHz Zigbee, 424MHz wireless communication, and CDMA M2M method are applied and evaluated.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.479-488
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• 2018

The issue of waste and its recycling is perceived as a worldwide environmental problem, and the plastic waste is perceived as the biggest social problem threatening the lives of mankind. The vertical protective net, manufactured by using the plastic resin is vertically installed on the outside in case of formwork at the construction site, in order to prevent the fallen objects and scattered dusts. The objective of this study is to understand the actual use status of vertical protective net in the construction site, to examine the changes in the environment-related regulations recently strengthened in the construction site, and also to improve the field technicians' perception of it. And based on it, this study aims to suggest the measures for using the rational and environment-friendly materials and also for promoting the recycling of vertical protective net as the vertical protective nets made of plastic resin are thoughtlessly used in the construction site.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.118-127
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• 2021

Recently, the public's interest in the air environment has increased, and public health is threatened by fine particulate matter. Furthermore, the government continues efforts to improve air quality by expanding the monitoring of air pollutants and reinforcing environmental standards. Since air quality differs depending on the region in the Korean Peninsula, it is currently necessary to identify the cause and search for influencing factors. In this study, the atmospheric environment and regional differences in cities located in the Chungnam Province were observed. As a research method, regression analysis was performed for weather conditions, such as temperature, wind speed, precipitation, and season and targeted at air pollutants, such as SO₂, NO₂, CO, O₃, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5, as well as heavy metals contained in particulate matter, such as Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, As, Mn, Fe, Al, Ca, and Mg. In the case of PM₁₀, the concentrations of Mn(0.4884) in Cheonan, CO(0.3329) in Dangjin, and Mg(0.5691) in Seosan were highest. In the case of PM_2.5, Cheonan NO₂(0.4759), Dangjin CO(0.4128), and Seosan NO₂(0.3715) were significantly affected. In summary, the influencing factors vary according to the region in Chungnam province in terms of air quality, and there is a difference in the degree of contribution. Therefore, it is considered that the Korean government's management of air quality is required for each region.