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Chest CT Findings of COVID-19 Patients with Mild Clinical Symptoms at a Single Hospital in Korea (경증의 임상 소견을 보이는 COVID-19 환자들의 흉부 CT 소견)

  • Woon Young Baek;Young Kyung Lee;Suhyun Kim;Chorom Hahm;Mi Young Ahn;Dong Hyun Oh;Jae-Phil Choi
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.82 no.1
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    • pp.139-151
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    • 2021
  • Purpose To retrospectively evaluate the chest computed tomography (CT) findings of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with mild clinical symptoms at a single hospital in South Korea. Materials and Methods CT scans of 87 COVID-19 patients [43 men and 44 women; median age: 41 years (interquartile range: 26.1-51.0 years)] with mild clinical symptoms (fever < 38℃ and no dyspnea) were evaluated. Results CT findings were normal in 39 (44.8%) and abnormal in 48 (55.2%) patients. Among the 48 patients with lung opacities, 17 (35.4%) had unilateral disease and 31 (64.6%) had bilateral disease. One (2.1%) patient showed subpleural distribution, 9 (18.8%) showed peribronchovascular distribution, and 38 (79.2%) showed subpleural and peribronchovascular distributions. Twenty-two (45.8%) patients had pure ground-glass opacities (GGOs) with no consolidation, 17 (35.4%) had mixed opacities dominated by GGOs, and 9 (18.8%) had mixed opacities dominated by consolidation. No patients demonstrated consolidation without GGOs. Conclusion The most common CT finding of COVID-19 in patients with mild clinical symptoms was bilateral multiple GGO-dominant lesions with subpleural and peribronchovascular distribution and lower lung predilection. The initial chest CT of almost half of COVID-19 patients with mild clinical symptoms showed no lung parenchymal lesions. Compared to relatively severe cases, mild cases were more likely to manifest as unilateral disease with pure GGOs or GGO-dominant mixed opacities and less likely to show air bronchogram.

Plasma Cosmetic Container Suitability (플라즈마 화장품 용기 적합성)

  • Ha Hyeon Jo;You-Yeon Chun;Hyojin Heo;Sang Hun Lee;Lei Lei;Ye Ji Kim;Byeong-Mun Kwak;Mi-Gi Lee;Bum-Ho Bin
    • Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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    • v.50 no.1
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    • pp.59-65
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    • 2024
  • For plasma cosmetics, it is important to ensure the long-term stability of plasma in the formulation. This study examined the suitability of containers for efficient plasma cosmetics development. By varying the surface area covered by the plasma, 4 cm2, 25 cm2, 75 cm2, and 175 cm2 containers were injected with cosmetic plasma, and the amount of nitric oxide (NO), the main active species of nitrogen plasma, was analyzed. As a result, the surface area and stability exposed to plasma tended to be inversely proportional, and it was most effective in a 4 cm2 container. Furthermore, 25 mm, 40 mm, and 50 mm vials were treated with plasma, which resulted in relative long-term stability of NO at 25 mm, a smaller surface area of the container exposed to air. Water mist and stratified mist were selected as cosmetic formulations, and NO plasma was injected into the water layer to observe the changes in formulation properties and the state of the injected NO plasma. In both formulations, the amount of NO plasma injected was about 1.5 times higher in the water phase mist than in the stratified mist, and the stratified mist gradually decreased with time and was found to disappear after 3 weeks. The stability of the nitrogen plasma was studied at low temperature (4 ℃), room temperature (25 ℃), and high temperature (37 ℃, 50 ℃). As a result, it was found that the water mist did not affect the stability, but the stratified mist observed a color change in the oil phase layer. Overall, this study demonstrates the container suitability of nitrogen plasma and suggests the importance of ensuring the stability of injected nitrogen plasma in cosmetic formulations.

Communities' Perception of the Effect of Ecosystem Services on the Forest Rehabilitation of Abandoned Mine Areas: A Case Study in Taebaek-si and Jeongseon-gun (강원도 폐광산 산림복구지의 지역사회 생태계서비스 인식조사: 태백시 및 정선군을 중심으로)

  • Bohwi Lee;Dawou Joung;Jihye Kim;Gwan-in Bak;Hakjun Rhee
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.113 no.1
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    • pp.118-130
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    • 2024
  • Rehabilitation of mining areas can reduce damage to ecosystems. However, the effects of rehabilitation on ecosystem services (ESs) and its contribution to local communities are not well known. Thus, the aims of this study were to clearly identify the ES beneficiaries affected by mining activities, to determine how the beneficiaries profit from surrounding areas in cooperation with local stakeholders, and to manage the rehabilitation areas for the ESs that the beneficiaries want. This study chose 18 ESs (4 provisioning, 7 regulating, 5 cultural, and 2 habitat services) based on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. A semi-structured questionnaire survey using an 11-point Likert scale was conducted among 87 community residents to investigate social awareness and identify key ESs. The survey results from two local communities showed high awareness and demands mainly on cultural (mental and physical health, aesthetic appreciation, and recreation) and regulating services (local climate and air quality, and moderation of extreme events). These services were related to the daily lives of residents in local communities, provided positive benefits, and potentially improved the residents' future livelihoods. However, the average questionnaire scores were limited to 6-7 points, indicating that the benefits to local communities were meager. The residents' awareness of provisioning service was negative, even if it provided goods and profit opportunities. This indicated a disconnection between local communities and provisioning services due to forest rehabilitation that did not consider local communities that traditionally relied on specific provisioning services before the onset of mining activities. Future forest rehabilitation in abandoned mine areas must consider the welfare of local communities for sustainable use of rehabilitated forests and enhancing ESs. In this study, only a qualitative evaluation based on frequency analyses was conducted. The quantification and valuation of key ESs are warranted in the future to promote ESs from forest rehabilitation in abandoned mine areas. The study results would be useful for developing site-specific ES promotion strategies for reforesting mine areas.

A Study on the Characteristics of Combustion and Manufacturing Process on Refuse-derived Fuel by Mixing Different Ratios with Organic and Combustible Wastes (유기성폐기물 고체연료화를 위한 연소 및 제조과정의 특성연구)

  • Ha, Sang-An
    • Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.27-38
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    • 2009
  • To investigate the feasibility of refuse derived fuels (RDFs) combined of sewage sludge and combustible wastes such as substitutive fuels instead of a stone coal, several different RDFs made with different mixtures of sewage sludge and combustible wastes were analyzed by various experiments. The combustion characteristics for the RDFs were investigated by analyzing fuel gases, and heating values were also measured by a bomb calorimeter. The fundamental properties such as moisture contents, ratios of combustible materials, amounts of ashes, heavy metals, ratios of each chemical elements and heating values were analyzed in accordance with mixing ratios of wt(%) for researching the characteristics of the RDFs. $RDF_{k-1}$ was made of mixing materials which were dried sewage sludge, food wastes and combustible wastes. $RDF_{k-2}$ was made of mixing materials which were peat-moss, tar and sewage sludge. Combustion experiments were carried out at the optimal conditions which were m=2 under air-fuel condition and $850^{\circ}C$. The retention times in the combustor were set at 5, 10 and 15minutes. 50 g of RDFs was put in the combustor for each experiments. The ranges for heating values of $RDF_{k-1}$ with different mixing ratios were from 6,900 kcal/kg to 8120 kcal/kg. The ranges for heating values of $RDF_{k-2}$ with different mixing ratios were from 4,014 kcal/kg to 8,050 kcal/kg. As a result of this study, the heating values, moisture contents, components of chemical elements and mixing ratios of the materials in RDFs had big effects on the efficiency of the combustion. In $RDF_{k-1}$, the higher amounts of combustible wastes in the mixtures, the higher heating values, concentrations of $C_xH_y$ and amounts of ashes were produced. In $RDF_{k-2}$, the higher tar amounts in the mixtures caused the higher heating values, amounts of ashes, concentrations of CO gas and CxHy.

Hydrochemistry and Noble Gas Origin of Various Hot Spring Waters from the Eastern area in South Korea (동해안지역 온천유형별 수리화학적 특성 및 영족기체 기원)

  • Jeong, Chan-Ho;Nagao, Keisuke;Kim, Kyu-Han;Choi, Hun-Kong;Sumino, Hirochika;Park, Ji-Sun;Park, Chung-Hwa;Lee, Jong-Ig;Hur, Soon-Do
    • Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2008
  • The purpose of this study is to characterize the hydrogeochemical characteristics of hot spring waters and to interpret the source of noble gases and the geochemical environment of the hot spring waters distributed along the eastern area of the Korean peninsula. For this purpose, We carried out the chemical, stable isotopic and noble gas isotopic analyses for eleven hot spring water and fourteen hot spring gas samples collected from six hot spring sites. The hot spring waters except the Osaek hot spring water show the pH range of 7.0 to 9.1. However, the Osaek $CO_2$-rich hot spring water shows a weak acid of pH 5.7. The temperature of hot spring waters in the study area ranges from $25.7^{\circ}C$ to $68.3^{\circ}C$. Electrical conductivity of hot spring waters varies widely from 202 to $7,130{\mu}S/cm$. High electrical conductivity (av., $3,890{\mu}S/sm$) by high Na and Cl contents of the Haeundae and the Dongrae hot spring waters indicates that the hot spring waters were mixed with seawater in the subsurface thermal system. The type of hot springs in the viewpoint of dissolved components can be grouped into three types: (1) alkaline Na-$HCO_3$ type including sulfur gas of the Osaek, Baekam, Dukgu and Chuksan hot springs, and (2) saline Na-Cl type of the Haeundae and Dongrae hot springs, and (3) weak acid $CO_2$-rich Na-$HCO_3$ type of Osaek hot spring. Tritium ratios of the Haeundae and the Dongrae hot springs indicate different residence time in their aquifers of older water of $0.0{\sim}0.3$ TU and younger water of $5.9{\sim}8.8$ TU. The ${\delta}^{18}O$ and ${\delta}D$ values of hot spring waters indicate that they originate from the meteoric water, and that the values also reflect a latitude effect according to their locations. $^3He/^4He$ ratios of the hot spring waters except Osaek $CO_2$-rich hot spring water range from $0.1{\times}10^{-6}$ to $1.1{\times}10^{-6}$ which are plotted above the mixing line between air and crustal components. It means that the He gas in hot spring waters was originated mainly from atmosphere and crust sources, and partly from mantle sources. The Osaek $CO_2$-rich hot spring water shows $3.3{\times}10^{-6}$ in $^3He/^4He$ ratio that is 2.4 times higher than those of atmosphere. It provides clearly a helium source from the deep mantle. $^{40}Ar/^{36}Ar$ ratios of hot spring water are in the range of an atmosphere source.

Records Management and Archives in Korea : Its Development and Prospects (한국 기록관리행정의 변천과 전망)

  • Nam, Hyo-Chai
    • Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.19-35
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    • 2001
  • After almost one century of discontinuity in the archival tradition of Chosun dynasty, Korea entered the new age of records and archival management by legislating and executing the basic laws (The Records and Archives Management of Public Agencies Ad of 1999). Annals of Chosun dynasty recorded major historical facts of the five hundred years of national affairs. The Annals are major accomplishment in human history and rare in the world. It was possible because the Annals were composed of collected, selected and complied records of primary sources written and compiled by generations of historians, As important public records are needed to be preserved in original forms in modern archives, we had to develop and establish a modern archival system to appraise and select important national records for archival preservation. However, the colonialization of Korea deprived us of the opportunity to do the task, and our fine archival tradition was not succeeded. A centralized archival system began to develop since the establishment of GARS under the Ministry of Government Administration in 1969. GARS built a modem repository in Pusan in 1984 succeeding to the tradition of History Archives of Chosun dynasty. In 1998, GARS moved its headquarter to Taejon Government Complex and acquired state-of-the-art audio visual archives preservation facilities. From 1996, GARS introduced an automated archival management system to remedy the manual registration and management system complementing the preservation microfilming. Digitization of the holdings was the key project to provided the digital images of archives to users. To do this, the GARS purchased new computer/server systems and developed application softwares. Parallel to this direction, GARS drastically renovated its manpower composition toward a high level of professionalization by recruiting more archivists with historical and library science backgrounds. Conservators and computer system operators were also recruited. The new archival laws has been in effect from January 1, 2000. The new laws made following new changes in the field of records and archival administration in Korea. First, the laws regulate the records and archives of all public agencies including the Legislature, the Judiciary, the Administration, the constitutional institutions, Army, Navy, Air Force, and National Intelligence Service. A nation-wide unified records and archives management system became available. Second, public archives and records centers are to be established according to the level of the agency; a central archives at national level, special archives for the National Assembly and the Judiciary, local government archives for metropolitan cities and provinces, records center or special records center for administrative agencies. A records manager will be responsible for the records management of each administrative divisions. Third, the records in the public agencies are registered in the computer system as they are produced. Therefore, the records are traceable and will be searched or retrieved easily through internet or computer network. Fourth, qualified records managers and archivists who are professionally trained in the field of records management and archival science will be assigned mandatorily to guarantee the professional management of records and archives. Fifth, the illegal treatment of public records and archives constitutes a punishable crime. In the future, the public records find archival management will develop along with Korean government's 'Electronic Government Project.' Following changes are in prospect. First, public agencies will digitize paper records, audio-visual records, and publications as well as electronic documents, thus promoting administrative efficiency and productivity. Second, the National Assembly already established its Special Archives. The judiciary and the National Intelligence Service will follow it. More archives will be established at city and provincial levels. Third, the more our society develop into a knowledge-based information society, the more the records management function will become one of the important national government functions. As more universities, academic associations, and civil societies participate in promoting archival awareness and in establishing archival science, and more people realize the importance of the records and archives management up to the level of national public campaign, the records and archival management in Korea will develop significantly distinguishable from present practice.

Wind and Flooding Damages of Rice Plants in Korea (한국의 도작과 풍수해)

  • 강양순
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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    • v.34 no.s02
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    • pp.45-65
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    • 1989
  • The Korean peninsular having the complexity of the photography and variability of climate is located within passing area of a lots of typhoon occurring from the southern islands of Philippines. So, there are various patterns of wind and flooding damages in paddy field occuring by the strong wind and the heavy rain concentrated during the summer season of rice growing period in Korea. The wind damages to rice plants in Korea were mainly caused by saline wind, dry wind and strong wind when typhoon occurred. The saline wind damage having symptom of white head or dried leaves occurred by 1.1 to 17.2 mg of salt per dry weight stuck on the plant which was located at 2. 5km away from seashore of southern coastal area during the period(from 27th to 29th, August, 1986) of typhoon &Vera& accompanying 62-96% of relative humidity, more than 6 m per second of wind velocity and 22.5 to 26.4$^{\circ}C$ of air temperature without rain. Most of the typhoons accompanying 4.0 to 8. 5m per second of wind and low humidity (lesp an 60%) with high temperature in the east coastal area and southen area of Korea. were changed to dry and hot wind by the foehn phenomenon. The dry wind damages with the symptom of the white head or the discolored brownish grain occurred at the rice heading stage. The strong wind caused the severe damages such as the broken leaves, cut-leaves and dried leaves before heading stage, lodging and shattering of grain at ripening stage mechanically during typhoon. To reduce the wind damages to rice plant, cultivation of resistant varieties to wind damages such as Sangpoongbyeo and Cheongcheongbyeo and the escape of heading stage during period of typhoon by accelerating of heading within 15th, August are effective. Though the flood disasters to rice plant such as earring away of field, burying of field, submerging and lodging damage are getting low by the construction of dam for multiple purpose and river bank, they are occasionally occurred by the regional heavy rain and water filled out in bank around the river. Paddy field were submerged for 2 to 4 days when typhoon and heavy rain occurred about the end of August. At this time, the rice plants that was in younger growing stage in the late transplanting field of southern area of Korea had the severe damages. Although panicles of rice plant which was in the meiotic growing stage and heading stage were died when flooded, they had 66% of yield compensating ability by the upper tilling panicle produced from tiller with dead panicle in ordinary transplanting paddy field. It is effective for reduction of flooding damages to cultivate the resistant variety to flooding having the resistance to bacterial leaf blight, lodging and small brown planthopper simultaneously. Especially, Tongil type rice varieties are relatively resistant to flooding, compared to Japonica rice varieties. Tongil type rice varieties had high survivals, low elongation ability of leaf sheath and blade, high recovering ability by the high root activity and photosynthesis and high yield compensating ability by the upper tillering panicle when flooded. To minimize the flooding and wind damage to rice plants in future, following research have to be carried out; 1. Data analysis by telemetering and computerization of climate, actual conditions and growing diagnosis of crops damaged by disasters. 2. Development of tolerant varieties to poor natural conditions related to flooding and wind damages. 3. Improvement of the reasonable cropping system by introduction of other crops compensating the loss of the damaged rice. 4. Increament of utilization of rice plant which was damaged.

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Impacts of Climate Change on Rice Production and Adaptation Method in Korea as Evaluated by Simulation Study (생육모의 연구에 의한 한반도에서의 기후변화에 따른 벼 생산성 및 적응기술 평가)

  • Lee, Chung-Kuen;Kim, Junwhan;Shon, Jiyoung;Yang, Woon-Ho;Yoon, Young-Hwan;Choi, Kyung-Jin;Kim, Kwang-Soo
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.207-221
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    • 2012
  • Air temperature in Korea has increased by $1.5^{\circ}C$ over the last 100 years, which is nearly twice the global average rate during the same period. Moreover, it is projected that such change in temperature will continue in the 21st century. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential impacts of future climate change on the rice production and adaptation methods in Korea. Climate data for the baseline (1971~2000) and the three future climate (2011~2040, 2041~2070, and 2071~2100) at fifty six sites in South Korea under IPCC SRES A1B scenario were used as the input to the rice crop model ORYZA2000. Six experimental schemes were carried out to evaluate the combined effects of climatic warming, $CO_2$ fertilization, and cropping season on rice production. We found that the average production in 2071~2100 would decrease by 23%, 27%, and 29% for early, middle, and middle-late rice maturing type, respectively, when cropping seasons were fixed. In contrast, predicted yield reduction was ~0%, 6%, and 7%, for early, middle, and middle-late rice maturing type, respectively, when cropping seasons were changed. Analysis of variation suggested that climatic warming, $CO_2$ fertilization, cropping season, and rice maturing type contributed 60, 10, 12, and 2% of rice yield, respectively. In addition, regression analysis suggested 14~46 and 53~86% of variations in rice yield were explained by grain number and filled grain ratio, respectively, when cropping season was fixed. On the other hand, 46~78 and 22~53% of variations were explained respectively with changing cropping season. It was projected that sterility caused by high temperature would have no effect on rice yield. As a result, rice yield reduction in the future climate in Korea would resulted from low filled grain ratio due to high growing temperature during grain-filling period because the $CO_2$ fertilization was insufficient to negate the negative effect of climatic warming. However, adjusting cropping seasons to future climate change may alleviate the rice production reduction by minimizing negative effect of climatic warming without altering positive effect of $CO_2$ fertilization, which improves weather condition during the grain-filling period.

The lesson From Korean War (한국전쟁의 교훈과 대비 -병력수(兵力數) 및 부대수(部隊數)를 중심으로-)

  • Yoon, Il-Young
    • Journal of National Security and Military Science
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    • s.8
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    • pp.49-168
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    • 2010
  • Just before the Korean War, the total number of the North Korean troops was 198,380, while that of the ROK(Republic of Korea) army troops 105,752. That is, the total number of the ROK army troops at that time was 53.3% of the total number of the North Korean army. As of December 2008, the total number of the North Korean troops is estimated to be 1,190,000, while that of the ROK troops is 655,000, so the ROK army maintains 55.04% of the total number of the North Korean troops. If the ROK army continues to reduce its troops according to [Military Reform Plan 2020], the total number of its troops will be 517,000 m 2020. If North Korea maintains the current status(l,190,000 troops), the number of the ROK troops will be 43.4% of the North Korean army. In terms of units, just before the Korean War, the number of the ROK army divisions and regiments was 80% and 44.8% of North Korean army. As of December 2008, North Korea maintains 86 divisions and 69 regiments. Compared to the North Korean army, the ROK army maintains 46 Divisions (53.4% of North Korean army) and 15 regiments (21.3% of North Korean army). If the ROK army continue to reduce the military units according to [Military Reform Plan 2020], the number of ROK army divisions will be 28(13 Active Division, 4 Mobilization Divisions and 11 Local Reserve Divisions), while that of the North Korean army will be 86 in 2020. In that case, the number of divisions of the ROK army will be 32.5% of North Korean army. During the Korean war, North Korea suddenly invaded the Republic of Korea and occupied its capital 3 days after the war began. At that time, the ROK army maintained 80% of army divisions, compared to the North Korean army. The lesson to be learned from this is that, if the ROK army is forced to disperse its divisions because of the simultaneous invasion of North Korea and attack of guerrillas in home front areas, the Republic of Korea can be in a serious military danger, even though it maintains 80% of military divisions of North Korea. If the ROK army promotes the plans in [Military Reform Plan 2020], the number of military units of the ROK army will be 32.5% of that of the North Korean army. This ratio is 2.4 times lower than that of the time when the Korean war began, and in this case, 90% of total military power should be placed in the DMZ area. If 90% of military power is placed in the DMZ area, few troops will be left for the defense of home front. In addition, if the ROK army continues to reduce the troops, it can allow North Korea to have asymmetrical superiority in military force and it will eventually exert negative influence on the stability and peace of the Korean peninsular. On the other hand, it should be reminded that, during the Korean War, the Republic of Korea was attacked by North Korea, though it kept 53.3% of troops, compared to North Korea. It should also be reminded that, as of 2008, the ROK army is defending its territory with the troops 55.04% of North Korea. Moreover, the national defense is assisted by 25,120 troops of the US Forces in Korea. In case the total number of the ROK troops falls below 43.4% of the North Korean army, it may cause social unrest about the national security and may lead North Korea's misjudgement. Besides, according to Lanchester strategy, the party with weaker military power (60% compared to the party with stronger military power) has the 4.1% of winning possibility. Therefore, if we consider the fact that the total number of the ROK army troops is 55.04% of that of the North Korean army, the winning possibility of the ROK army is not higher than 4.1%. If the total number of ROK troops is reduced to 43.4% of that of North Korea, the winning possibility will be lower and the military operations will be in critically difficult situation. [Military Reform Plan 2020] rums at the reduction of troops and units of the ground forces under the policy of 'select few'. However, the problem is that the financial support to achieve this goal is not secured. Therefore, the promotion of [Military Reform Plan 2020] may cause the weakening of military defence power in 2020. Some advanced countries such as Japan, UK, Germany, and France have promoted the policy of 'select few'. However, what is to be noted is that the national security situation of those countries is much different from that of Korea. With the collapse of the Soviet Unions and European communist countries, the military threat of those European advanced countries has almost disappeared. In addition, the threats those advanced countries are facing are not wars in national level, but terrorism in international level. To cope with the threats like terrorism, large scaled army trops would not be necessary. So those advanced European countries can promote the policy of 'select few'. In line with this, those European countries put their focuses on the development of military sections that deal with non-military operations and protection from unspecified enemies. That is, those countries are promoting the policy of 'select few', because they found that the policy is suitable for their national security environment. Moreover, since they are pursuing common interest under the European Union(EU) and they can form an allied force under NATO, it is natural that they are pursing the 'select few' policy. At present, NATO maintains the larger number of troops(2,446,000) than Russia(l,027,000) to prepare for the potential threat of Russia. The situation of japan is also much different from that of Korea. As a country composed of islands, its prime military focus is put on the maritime defense. Accordingly, the development of ground force is given secondary focus. The japanese government promotes the policy to develop technology-concentrated small size navy and air-forces, instead of maintaining large-scaled ground force. In addition, because of the 'Peace Constitution' that was enacted just after the end of World War II, japan cannot maintain troops more than 240,000. With the limited number of troops (240,000), japan has no choice but to promote the policy of 'select few'. However, the situation of Korea is much different from the situations of those countries. The Republic of Korea is facing the threat of the North Korean Army that aims at keeping a large-scale military force. In addition, the countries surrounding Korea are also super powers containing strong military forces. Therefore, to cope with the actual threat of present and unspecified threat of future, the importance of maintaining a carefully calculated large-scale military force cannot be denied. Furthermore, when considering the fact that Korea is in a peninsular, the Republic of Korea must take it into consideration the tradition of continental countries' to maintain large-scale military powers. Since the Korean War, the ROK army has developed the technology-force combined military system, maintaining proper number of troops and units and pursuing 'select few' policy at the same time. This has been promoted with the consideration of military situation in the Koran peninsular and the cooperation of ROK-US combined forces. This kind of unique military system that cannot be found in other countries can be said to be an insightful one for the preparation for the actual threat of North Korea and the conflicts between continental countries and maritime countries. In addition, this kind of technology-force combined military system has enabled us to keep peace in Korea. Therefore, it would be desirable to maintain this technology-force combined military system until the reunification of the Korean peninsular. Furthermore, it is to be pointed out that blindly following the 'select few' policy of advanced countries is not a good option, because it is ignoring the military strategic situation of the Korean peninsular. If the Republic of Korea pursues the reduction of troops and units radically without consideration of the threat of North Korea and surrounding countries, it could be a significant strategic mistake. In addition, the ROK army should keep an eye on the fact the European advanced countries and Japan that are not facing direct military threats are spending more defense expenditures than Korea. If the ROK army reduces military power without proper alternatives, it would exert a negative effect on the stable economic development of Korea and peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsular. Therefore, the desirable option would be to focus on the development of quality of forces, maintaining proper size and number of troops and units under the technology-force combined military system. The tableau above shows that the advanced countries like the UK, Germany, Italy, and Austria spend more defense expenditure per person than the Republic of Korea, although they do not face actual military threats, and that they keep achieving better economic progress than the countries that spend less defense expenditure. Therefore, it would be necessary to adopt the merits of the defense systems of those advanced countries. As we have examined, it would be desirable to maintain the current size and number of troops and units, to promote 'select few' policy with increased defense expenditure, and to strengthen the technology-force combined military system. On the basis of firm national security, the Republic of Korea can develop efficient policies for reunification and prosperity, and jump into the status of advanced countries. Therefore, the plans to reduce troops and units in [Military Reform Plan 2020] should be reexamined. If it is difficult for the ROK army to maintain its size of 655,000 troops because of low birth rate, the plans to establish the prompt mobilization force or to adopt drafting system should be considered for the maintenance of proper number of troops and units. From now on, the Republic of Korean government should develop plans to keep peace as well as to prepare unexpected changes in the Korean peninsular. For the achievement of these missions, some options can be considered. The first one is to maintain the same size of military troops and units as North Korea. The second one is to maintain the same level of military power as North Korea in terms of military force index. The third one is to maintain the same level of military power as North Korea, with the combination of the prompt mobilization force and the troops in active service under the system of technology-force combined military system. At present, it would be not possible for the ROK army to maintain such a large-size military force as North Korea (1,190,000 troops and 86 units). So it would be rational to maintain almost the same level of military force as North Korea with the combination of the troops on the active list and the prompt mobilization forces. In other words, with the combination of the troops in active service (60%) and the prompt mobilization force (40%), the ROK army should develop the strategies to harmonize technology and forces. The Korean government should also be prepared for the strategic flexibility of USFK, the possibility of American policy change about the location of foreign army, radical unexpected changes in North Korea, the emergence of potential threat, surrounding countries' demand for Korean force for the maintenance of regional stability, and demand for international cooperation against terrorism. For this, it is necessary to develop new approaches toward the proper number and size of troops and units. For instance, to prepare for radical unexpected political or military changes in North Korea, the Republic of Korea should have plans to protect a large number of refugees, to control arms and people, to maintain social security, and to keep orders in North Korea. From the experiences of other countries, it is estimated that 115,000 to 230,000 troops, plus ten thousands of police are required to stabilize the North Korean society, in the case radical unexpected military or political change happens in North Korea. In addition, if the Republic of Korea should perform the release of hostages, control of mass destruction weapons, and suppress the internal wars in North Korea, it should send 460,000 troops to North Korea. Moreover, if the Republic of Korea wants to stop the attack of North Korea and flow of refugees in DMZ area, at least 600,000 troops would be required. In sum, even if the ROK army maintains 600,000 troops, it may need additional 460,000 troops to prepare for unexpected radical changes in North Korea. For this, it is necessary to establish the prompt mobilization force whose size and number are almost the same as the troops in active service. In case the ROK army keeps 650,000 troops, the proper number of the prompt mobilization force would be 460,000 to 500,000.

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A study on dermatologic diseases of workers exposed to cutting oil (절삭유 취급 근로자의 피부질환에 관한 연구)

  • Chun, Byung-Chul;Kim, Hee-Ok;Kim, Soon-Duck;Oh, Chil-Hwan;Yum, Yong-Tae
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.29 no.4 s.55
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    • pp.785-799
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    • 1996
  • We investigated the 1,004 workers who worked in a automobile factory to study the epidemiologic characterists of dermatoses due to cutting oils. Among the workers, 667(66.4%) answered the questionaire. They are belong to 5 departments of the factory-the Engine-Work(258 workers), Gasoline engine Assembly(210), Diesel engine Assembly(96), Power train Work(86), Power train Assembly(17). We measured the oil mist concentration in air of the departments and examined the workers who had dermatologic symptoms. The results were follows; 1) Oil mist concentration ; Of all measured points(52),9 points(17.2%) exeeded $5mg/m^3$- the time-weighed PEL-and one department had a upper confidence limit(95%) higher than $5mg/m^3$. 2) Dermatologists examined 213 workers. 172 of them complained any skin symptoms at that time - itching(32.5%), papule(21.6%), scale(15.7%), vesicle(12.5%) in order. The abnormal skin site found by dermatologist were palm(29.3%), finger & nail(24.6%), forearm(16.2%), back of hand(8.4%) in order. 3) As the result of physical examination, we found that 160 workers had skin diseases. Contact dermatitis was the most common; 69 workers had contact dermatitis alone(43.1%), 11 had contact dermatitis with acne(6.9%), 10 had contact dermatitis with folliculitis(6.3%), 1 had contact dermatitis with acne & folliculitis, and 1 had contact dermatitis with abnormal pigmentation. Others were folliculitis(9 workers, 5.6%), acne(8, 5.0%), folliculitis & acne (2, 1.2%), keratosis(1, 0.6%), abnormal pigmentation (1, 0.6%), and non-specific hand eczema (47, 29.3%). 4) The prevalence of any skin diseases was 34.0 pet 100 in cutting oil users, and 13.3 per 100 in non- users. Especially, the prevalence of contact dermatitis was 23.0 per 100 in cutting oil users and 23.0 per 100 in non-users. 5) We tried patch test(standard serise, oil serise, organic solvents) on 49 patients to differentiate allergic contact dermatitis from irritant contact dermatitis and found 20 were positive. 6) In a multivariate analysis(independant=age, tenure, kinds of cutting oil), the risk of skin diseases was higher in the water-based cutting oil user and both oil user than non-user or neat oil user(odds ratio were 2.16 and 2.78, respectively). And the risk of contact dermatitis was much higher at the same groups(odds ratio were 5.16 and 6.82, respectively).

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