• 한국환경보건학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국환경보건학회 2005년도 국제학술대회
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• pp.45-72
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• 2005

C. neoformans-associated cryptococcosis is primarily a disease of immunocompromised persons, has a world-wide distribution, and is often spread by pigeons in the urban environment. In contrast, C. gattii causes infection in normal hosts, has only been described in tropical and semi-tropical areas of the world, and has a unique niche in river gum Eucalyptus trees. Cryptococcosis is acquired through inhalation of the yeast propagules from the environment. C. gattii has been identified as the cause of an emerging infectious disease centered on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. No cases of C. gattii-disease were diagnosed prior to 1999; the current incidence rate is 36 cases per million population. A search was initiated in 2001 to find the ecological niche of this basidiomycetous yeast. C. gaftii was found in the environment in treed areas of Vancouver Island. The highest percentage of colonized-tree clusters were found around central Vancouver Island, with decreasing rates of colonization to the north and south. Climate, soil and vegetation cover of this area, called the Coastal Douglas fir biogeoclimatic zone, is unique to British Columbia and Canada. The concentration of airborne C. gattii was highest in the dry summer months, and lowest during late fall, winter, and early spring, months which have heavy rainfall. The study of the emerging colonization of this organism and subsequent cases of environmentally acquired disease will be informative in planning public health management of new routes of exposure to exotic agents in areas impacted by changing climate and land use patterns. Cryptococcosis is an infection associated with an encapsulated, basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. The route of entry for this organism is through the lungs, with possible systemic spread via the circulatory system to the brain and meninges. There are four cryptococcal serogroups associated with disease in humans and animals, distinguished by capsular polysaccharide antigens. Cryptococcus neoformans: variety grubii (serotype A), variety neoformans (serotype D), and variety gattii (serotypes B and C) (Franzot et at. 1999). C. neoformans variety gattii has recently been elevated to species status, C. gattii. C. neoformans val. grubii and var. neoformans have a world-wide distribution, and are particularly associated with soil and weathered bird droppings. In contrast, C. gattii (CG) is not associated with bird excrement, is primarily found in tropical and subtropical climates, and has a restricted environmental niche associated with specific tree species. (Ellis & Pfiffer 1990) Ellis and Pfeiffer theorize that, as a basidiomycete, CG requires an association with a tree in order to become pathogenic to mammals. In Australia, CG has been found to be associated with five species of Eucalypts, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. tereticornis, E. blakelyi, E. gomphocephala, and E. rudis. Eucalypts, although originally native to Australia, now have a world-wide distribution. CG has been found associated with imported eucalypts in India, California, Brazil, and Egypt. In addition, in Brazil and Columbia, where eucalypts have been naturalized, native trees have been shown to harbour CG (Callejas et al. 1998; Montenegro et al. 2000). In British Columbia, Canada, since the beginning of 1999, there have been 120 confirmed cases of cryptococcal mycoses associated with CG in humans, including 4 fatalities (data from British Columbia Centre for Disease Control), and over 200 cases in animal pets in BC (data from Central Laboratory for Veterinarians). What is remarkable about the BC outbreak of C. gattii-cryptococcosis is that all of the cases have been residents of, or visitors to, a narrow area along the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, BC, from the tip of the island in the south (Victoria) to Courtenay on the north-central island as illustrated in Figure 1. Of the first 38 human cases, 58% were male with a mean age of 59.7 years (range 20 - 82): 36 cases (95%) were Caucasian. Ten cases (26%) presented with meningitis, the remainder presented with respiratory symptoms. Cultures recovered from cases of cryptococcosis associated with the outbreak were typed as serogroup B, which is specific to CG (Bartlett et al. 2003). This was the first reported outbreak of CVG in Canada, or indeed, the world. Where infection with CG is endemic, for example, Australia, the incidence of cryptococcosis ranges from 1.8 - 4.7 per million between the southern and northern states (Sorrell 2001). However, the overall incidence of cryptococcosis in immunocompenent individuals has been estimated at 0.2 per million population per year (Kwon-Chung et al. 1984). The population of Vancouver Island is approximately 720,000,consequently, even if the organism were endemic, one would expect a maximum of 0.15 cases of cryptococcal disease annually.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.73-82
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• 2017

Purpose: Since the facility guidelines for National Designated Isolation Unit wards(NDIUs) had been edited since 2016, all hospital who want to expand or install NDIU should adapt the new guidelines. Instead of providing area requirement, by the way, only essential or optional facility requirements are suggested except patient bedroom in the guidelines. So, as analyze area and area composition of the NDIUs, it could be expected that this study has a role as an area planing reference for not only NDIU but also another airborne infection isolation room. Methods: For the area analysis, 18 sample hospitals are selected among 2016 year applicants. All rooms in NDIUs are grouped as zones whether those are negative air pressurized or not and programed room or not. At the end, area of the zones are summarized and analysed a relationship between area increase and bed number by both correlation analysis and regression analysis. In addition, department usable and gross area per bed, N/G ratio, G/N ratio, and average area ratio of each zone is calculated. Results: First of all, rooms in none negative air pressurized zone of the NDIUs haven't shown a regular installation so that only those in negative air pressurized zone are targeted for the area analysis. Second of all, patient room unit(0.92) and support area(0.79), by correlation analysis, are correlated with total net area. Patient room unit(0.94) and total net area(0.79) are also shown a correlation with bed number. Department usable area($R^2=0.63$, y=36.278x + 102) and patient room unit area($R^2=0.89$, y= 27.993x - 0.8924) has a relationship with bed number by regression analysis. Average N/G is shown as 0.85 and G/N 1.36. Average area ratio of circulation, doffing area, patient room unit, and support area are 25.4%, 9.1%, 50.9%, and 14.6% in order. Implications: This study is a basic research for exploring the NDIUs guidelines to find resonable evidence to develop it for its practical use. Still, it is possibly expected that the guideline is to be developed by post occupancy evaluation in the area of where minimum requirement or facility grade needs to be defined, and by further studies with various perspectives.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.202-210
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine clean room(C/R) structure, air conditioning and contamination control systems and to provide basic information for identifying a correlation between the semiconductor work environment and workers' disease. Methods: This study was conducted at 200 mm and 300 mm semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities. The C/R structure and air conditioning method were investigated using basic engineering data from documentation for C/R construction. Furthermore, contamination parameters such as airborne particles, temperature, humidity, acids, ammonia, organic compounds, and vibration in the C/R were based on the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors(ITRS). The properties of contamination control systems and the current status of monitoring of various contaminants in the C/R were investigated. Results: 200 mm and 300 mm wafer fabrication facilities were divided into fab(C/R) and sub fab(Plenum), and fab, clean sub fab and facility sub fab, respectively. Fresh air(FA) is supplied in the plenum or clean sub fab by the outdoor air handling unit system which purifies outdoor air. FA supply or contaminated indoor air ventilation rates in the 200 mm and 300 mm wafer fabrication facilities are approximately 10-25%. Furthermore, semiconductor clean rooms strictly controlled airborne particles(${\leq}1,000{\sharp}/ft^3$), temperature($23{\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$), humidity($45{\pm}5%$), air velocity(0.4 m/s), air change(60-80 cycles/hr), vibration(${\leq}1cm/s^2$), and differential pressure(atmospheric pressure$+1.0-2.5mmH_2O$) through air handling and contamination control systems. In addition, acids, alkali and ozone are managed at less than internal criteria by chemical filters. Conclusions: Semiconductor clean rooms can be a pleasant environment for workers as well as semiconductor devices. However, based on the precautionary principle, it may be necessary to continuously improve semiconductor processes and the work environment.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.310-320
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• 2014

Backgrounds: Endotoxin, which found in the outer membrane of the gram-negative bacteria cell wall, makes up almost all of the lipopolysaccharide(LPS). When people are exposed to endotoxin,it can result in diverse health effects such as an airway irritation and inflammation, fever, malaise, bronchitis, allergic asthma, toxic pneumonitis, hypersensitivity lung disease. Cases among the elderly, children or pregnant can occur more frequently than a healthy adult if they are repeatedly exposed to the existing endotoxin. Therefore, we investigated and assessed the environmental characteristics associated with the airborne endotoxin concentration level in six hospital lobbies. Method: Endotoxin from indoor air in six hospital lobbies was measured by an area sampling method and analyzed according to American Society for Testing and Materials International(ASTM international) E2144-01. Total suspended particulate(TSP), carbon dioxide($CO_2$), temperature and humidity were also measured by using direct reading measurements or airborne sampling equipment at the same time. Environmental characteristics were appropriately divided into two or three groups for a statistics analysis. One-way analysis variable(one-way ANOVA) was used to examine a difference of the endotoxin concentration, depending on the environmental characteristics. In addition, only variables with p-value(p<0.25) were eventually designed to the best model by using multiple regression analysis. Results: The correlation analysis result indicated that TSP(p=0.003) and $CO_2$(p<0.0001) levels were significantly associated with endotoxin concentration levels. In contrast, temperature(p<0.068) and humidity(p<0.365) were not associated with endotoxin concentration. Levels of endotoxin concentration were statistically different among the environmental characteristics of Service time(p=0.01), Establishment of hospital(p<0.001), Scale of hospital(p=0.01), Day average people using hospital(p=0.03), Cleaning time of lobby(p=0.05), Season(p<0.001), and Cleaning of ventilation system(p<0.001) according to ANOVA. Finally, the best model(Adjusted R-square=72%) that we designed through a multiple regression test included environmental characteristics related to Service time, Area of lobby, Season, Cleaning of ventilation system, and Temperature. Conclusions: According to this study, our result showed a normal level of endotoxin concentration in the hospital lobbies and found environmental management methods to reduce the level of endotoxin concentration to a minimum. Consequently, this study recognized to be requirement for the management of ventilation systems and an indoor temperature in order to reduce the level of endotoxin concentration in the hospital lobbies.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.116-122
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• 2022

Background: The recent COVID-19 pandemic is one of the worst disease outbreaks of the 21th century. Due to a lack of reliable antiviral therapeutics, wearing face masks is recommended to prevent airborne infection originating from virus-contaminated bioaerosols. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the filtration efficiencies of face masks that are commercially available in South Korea for a biological aerosol of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and murine coronavirus, a well-known surrogate for human coronaviruses. Methods: We collected six different kinds of commercial masks: two Korea Filter (KF)94 (KF94-1, KF94-2) masks, one surgical (Surgical-1) mask, one anti-droplet (KF-AD-1) mask, and two dust (Dust-1, Dust-2) face masks. S. aureus (ATCC 6538), a well-performing test bacteria and murine coronavirus (ATCC VR-764) were prepared under a suitable culture condition. Then, a mask biological filtration tester was used to examine the microbial filtration efficiencies of masks. Test microorganisms were quantitatively measured via cultivation methods and microbial filtration efficiencies were calculated appropriately. Results: All face masks showed over 99.6% filtration efficiency for S. aureus or murine coronavirus. There were no significant differences among the bacterial filtration efficiencies of the face masks. KF94-1 (99.97±0.08%) and Dust-1 mask (99.97±0.07%) showed the highest (over 99.9%) filtration efficiency for murine coronavirus. KF94-1 or Dust-1 masks showed a significant virus filtration efficiency compared to Surgical-1 mask (p<0.05; Mann-Whitney U test). Conclusions: All the commercially available face masks used in this study can filter S. aureus or murine coronavirus in bioaerosols efficiently, regardless of the mask type. Therefore, our results suggest that wearing a certified face mask is a reliable means to prevent the transmission of infectious airborne diseases via biological aerosols.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제58권2호
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• pp.167-173
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• 2005

연구배경 : 황사는 우리나라에서 주로 3월에서 5월까지 봄에 집중적으로 발생하는 대기오염의 주된 원인으로 사람에게 만성 기관지염을 악화시키고 호흡기 질환을 유발하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 황사기간 중 부유분진 중의 무기이온 성분과 금속성분의 분석에 대한 연구와 천식 등 호흡기 질환과의 연관성에 대한 연구는 많으나, 아직까지 황사의 부유분진중의 미생물에 대한 연구는 부족하다. 이 연구에서는 황사 현상시 부유분진 중에 박테리아, 진균 그리고 바이러스 등의 미생물의 검출유무와 종류를 알아보고 금속 성분 및 농도에 대해 알아보고자 본 연구를 시행하였다. 방 법 : 시료의 채취는 충남 태안군 파도리에서 cascade impactor(AN-200, USA)를 설치하여 1시간 동안 얻었으며 채취는 황사현상 기간과 비황사기간중 각각 한번씩 시행하였다. Cascade impactor에 의해 채취된 부유분진중의 미생물 검사는 cascade impactor내에 있는 여과지를 그람 양성균, 그람 음성균, 진균, 그리고 바이러스의 배지(4종, influenza, parainfluenza, adenovirus, RSV)에 옮긴 후에 배양하여 분석하였다. 금속 성분의 분석은 XRF를 이용하여 분석하였다. 결 과 : 조사 대상 지역의 황사기간과 비황사 기간 중 부유분진의 농도는 각각 80.2, $40.3g/m^3$ 이었다. 부유분진 중 XRF로 분석한 금속성분은 알루미늄과 규소, 황, 칼륨과 칼슘, 철 등 대부분의 금속이 비 황사 기간에 비해 황사 기간에서 농도가 높았다. 미생물 검사 결과상 그람 양성균은 Bacillus species, Coagulase negative staphylococcus가 자랐으며 황사기간보다 비 황사 기간동안 채취한 시료에서 오히려 더 많은 단계의 여과지에서 균이 동정되었으나 두 기 간에서 자라는 균주의 종류에는 차이가 없었다. 진균 배양은 비 황사 기간동안 Mucor species, Cladosporum, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria등의 진균들이 자랐으며, 황사 기간동안은 Penicillium과 Alternaria, 그리고 다른 mold form fungus들이 자랐다. 바이러스와 그람 음성균은 두 기간 다 자라는 균주는 없었다. 결 론 : 이 연구는 황사 기간동안 대기분진 중에 포함된 미생물에 대한 최초의 연구로 황사 현상시 미생물의 검출 종류는 크게 차이가 없었으나 개체수의 증가가 관찰되었으며 금속 성분의 종류는 차이가 없었으나 농도는 황사 현상시에 더 높은 수치를 보여 황사현상에 따른 호흡기 질환자의 주의와 대기오염에 대한 대책이 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

Background: Though the biomass of floral vegetation in understory plant communities in a forested ecosystem only accounts for less than 1% of the total biomass of a forest, they contain most of the floral resources of a forest. The diversity of understory honey plants determines visitation rate of pollinators such as honey bee (Apis mellifera) as they provide rich food resources. Since the flower visitation and foraging activity of pollinators lead to the provision of pollination service, it also means the enhancement of plant-pollinator relationship. Therefore, an appropriate management scheme for understory vegetation is essential in order to conserve pollinator population that is decreasing due to habitat destruction and disease infection. This research examined the diversity of understory honey plant and studied how it is related to environmental variables such as (1) canopy density, (2) horizontal heterogeneity of canopy surface height, (3) slope gradient, and (4) distance from roads. Vegetation survey data of 39 plots of mixed forests in Chuncheon, Korea, were used, and possible management practices for understory vegetation were suggested. Results: This study found that 113 species among 141 species of honey plant of the forests were classified as understory vegetation. Also, the understory honey plant diversity is significantly positively correlated with distance from the nearest road and horizontal heterogeneity of canopy surface height and negatively correlated with canopy density. Conclusions: The diversity of understory honey plant vegetation is correlated to vegetation structure and human impact. In order to enhance the diversity of understory honey plant, management of density and height of canopy is necessary. This study suggests that improved diversity of canopy cover through thinning of overstory vegetation can increase the diversity of understory honey plant species.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.17-23
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• 2015

Excessive manganese (Mn) in the brain promotes a variety of abnormal behaviors, including memory deficits, decreased motor skills and psychotic behavior resembling Parkinson's disease. Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a prevalent genetic iron overload disorder worldwide. Dysfunction in HFE gene is the major cause of HH. Our previous study has demonstrated that olfactory Mn uptake is altered by HFE deficiency, suggesting that loss of HFE function could alter manganese-associated neurotoxicity. To test this hypothesis, Hfe-knockout ($Hfe^{-/-}$) and wild-type ($Hfe^{+/+}$) mice were intranasally-instilled with manganese chloride ($MnCl_2$ 5 mg/kg) or water daily for 3 weeks and examined for memory function. Olfactory Mn diminished both short-term recognition and spatial memory in $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice, as examined by novel object recognition task and Barnes maze test, respectively. Interestingly, $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice did not show impaired recognition memory caused by Mn exposure, suggesting a potential protective effect of Hfe deficiency against Mn-induced memory deficits. Since many of the neurotoxic effects of manganese are thought to result from increased oxidative stress, we quantified activities of anti-oxidant enzymes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Mn instillation decreased superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) activity in $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice, but not in $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice. In addition, Hfe deficiency up-regulated SOD1 and glutathione peroxidase activities. These results suggest a beneficial role of Hfe deficiency in attenuating Mn-induced oxidative stress in the PFC. Furthermore, Mn exposure reduced nicotinic acetylcholine receptor levels in the PFC, indicating that blunted acetylcholine signaling could contribute to impaired memory associated with intranasal manganese. Together, our model suggests that disrupted cholinergic system in the brain is involved in airborne Mn-induced memory deficits and loss of HFE function could in part prevent memory loss via a potential up-regulation of anti-oxidant enzymes in the PFC.

• 한국유기농업학회지
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.99-106
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• 1999

사과나무에서 발생하는 탄저병에 대한 길항미생물을 찾기 위하여 자연계로부터 유용미생물을 분리하고 사과 탄저 병원균에 대한 길항력 검정과 균주를 동정한 결과는 다음과 같다. 자연계로부터 얻은 1,000여종의 미생물중에서 탄저병원균에 대하여 길항력이 우수한 미생물을 1차적으로 11종 선발하였으며, 이중에서 가장 길항력이 뛰어난 미생물 CH1141을 최종적으로 선발하였다. 길항미생물 CH1141은 분리한 탄저병원균에 대하여 65%의 높은 생장억제력을 보였다. 길항력이 우수한 CH1141의 형태적 성질, 배양적 특성 및 생리 생화학적 성질 등을 조사하여 비교 검토한 결과 Bacillus subtilis와 유사한 균으로 동정되었다.

• 한국식물병리학회지
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.252-260
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• 1987

답후작으로 시설재배되는 상치에 발생한 균핵병의 발생생태에 대하여 조사연구한 결과, 상치 균핵병은 전생육기간을 통하여 발생하였는데, 특히 유묘기에 피해가 심하였다. 후병지$(30\times30\times5cm)$내의 균핵수는 유묘기에 22.0개, 수확기에는 5.3개가 검출되었다. 이상치 균핵병 (S. sclerotiorum)의 균사생장적온은 $25^{\circ}C$였고, $15^{\circ}C$이하의 온도에서는 $20^{\circ}C$이상의 온도에서보다 균핵의 형성수는 적었으나 큰 균핵을 형성하였고 건물중도 높았다. 토양깊이 및 시기별로 균핵을 매몰하였을 때 3월, 4월 9월의 매몰구에서는 토양깊이 3cm구까지 자양반을 형성하였으나, 6월, 12월의 매몰구에서는 90일간의 조사기간내에는 자 반을 형성하지 않았다. 그리고 중력수만 제거한 토양과 담수토양내에서 균핵을 $25^{\circ}C$와 $30^{\circ}C$로 5주간 처리하였을 때 $100\%$의 균핵이 사멸하였다. 고압멸균된 상치 식물체절편과 함께 균핵을 상치에 접종하였을 때 균핵의 균사형성에 의한 감염이 일어났으며, 포장주위식물에 대한 병원성 조사에서는 조사식물 9과 31종중 화본료 식물을 제외한 8과 25종의 식물에 병원성을 나타냈다. 그러므로 답리작으로 시설재배되는 상치에 발생한 균핵병의 전염원은 포장주위의 기주식물에 형성된 균핵이라고 생각된다.