• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.26 no.1 s.41
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• pp.20-36
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• 1993

Work-related low back pain is one of the major factors that cause the loss of working power especially in actively working age, therefore controlling the work-related low back pain is one of the major issues in the field of industrial safety and health. This study was performed for detecting the risk factors and proposing the efficient control program of the work-related low back pain. The subjects were male workers employed at the manufacturing industry in Pusan with longer than 6 months' working duration. The data was collected by self-reported questionnaire and interview from May 1 to October 31,1992. The contents of questionnaire were as follows:. the experience of low back pain within the recent one month, general characteristics(age, marital status, education level, religion, regular exercise), physical characteristics(height, weight), employment status(working duration, daily working hours, rest during work, satis(action fur the job), type of work and working environments(posture, forward bending, lifting and movement, satisfaction for table and chair). The result was analyzed for 608 entire respondents by case-control comparative method. The number of cases was 152 with a history of work-related low back pain, so the relative frequency of self-reported work-related low back pain was 25.0%, and the number of controls was 344 without any history of low back pain. As a result, two characteristics of the employment status(working duration, satisfaction fur the job) and all characteristics of type of work and working environments showed a statistical significance between the case and control groups(p<0.01). The Oddb ratios of these variables for Work-related low back pain were calculated. They were 7.88 for the satisfaction fur chair, 7.86 for lifting and movement,3.31 for satisfaction for table, and 2.22 fur bending forward(p<0.01). And for the multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed that unsatisfaction for table was independent risk factor for Work-related low back pain. In summary, though this study was based upon the self-reported questionnaire and the subjective complaints, the satisfaction for chair, lifting and movement, satisfaction for table, and bending forward concerned with the type of work and working environments were considered as the main factors causing the work-related low back pain, and the work-related low back pain may be preventable by the ergonomic control of these factors.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.413-422
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• 2019

The objective of this study was to estimate the trends of air quality in the study area by analyzing monthly and seasonal concentration trends obtained from sampled data. To this aim, the mass concentrations of $PM_{2.5}$ in the air were analyzed, as well as those of metals, ions, and total carbon within the $PM_{2.5}$. The mean concentration of $PM_{2.5}$ was $22.7{\mu}g/m^3$. The mass composition of $PM_{2.5}$ was as follows: 31.1% of ionic species, 2.2% of metallic species, and 26.7% of carbonic species (EC and OC). Ionic species, especially sulfate, ammonium, and nitrate, were the most abundant in the $PM_{2.5}$ and exhibited a high correlation coefficient with the mass concentration of $PM_{2.5}$. Seasonal variations of $PM_{2.5}$ showed a similar pattern to those of ionic and metallic species, with high concentrations during winter and spring. $PM_{2.5}$ also had a high correlation with the ionic species $NO_3{^-}$ and $NH_4{^+}$. In addition, $NH_4{^+}$ was highly correlated with $NO_3{^-}$. Through factor analysis, we identified four controlling factors, and determined the pollution sources using the United States Environmental Protection Agency(U.S. EPA) pollution profile. The first factor, accounting for 19.1% of $PM_{2.5}$ was attributed to motor vehicles and heating-related sources: the second factor indicated industry-related sources and secondary particles, and the other factors indicated soil, industry-related and marine sources. However, the pollution profile used in this study may be somewhat different from the actual situation in Korea, since it was obtained from US EPA. Therefore, to more accurately estimate the pollutants present in the air, a pollution profile for Korea should be produced.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.781-787
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• 2000

Background : The established by Light et al in 1972 have been used widely for the differential diagnosis of the pleural effusions in transudates and exsudates. However, in recent years, several reports have agreed that these criteria misclassified an important number of effusions. For this reason, different parameters have been proposed for differentiating the transudates from exudates. Nevertheless, all these alternative parameters have not been better than the past criteria of Light et al. In response the usefulness of two parameters for differentiating pleural transudate from exudates were evaluated : pleural fluid cholinesterase level and pleural fluid to serum cholinesterase ratio. Methods : A total of forty-three patients with known causes of the pleural of the pleural effusion by diagnostic thoracentesis were studied. The following criteria for differentiating the pleural effusions in transudates and exsudates were analyzed : Ligt's criteria, the pleural fluid cholesterol level, the pleural fluid to serum cholesterol ratio, the pleural fluid cholinesterase level, and the pleural fluid to serum cholinesterase ratio. Results : The conditions of forty-three patients were diagnosed. Ten were classified as having transudates and thirty-three as exudates. The percentage of effusions misclassified by each parameter was as follows : Light's criteria, 9.3% ; pleural fluid cholesterol 2.3% ; pleural fluid to serum cholesterol, ratio, 2.3% ; pleural fluid cholinesterase, 4.7% ; and pleural fluid to serum chlinesterase ratio, 2.3%. Conclusions : The pleural fluid to serum cholinesterase ratio is one of the accurate criteria for differentiating pleural transudates from exudates. If fur1her studies confirm the results, the cholinesterase ratio could be used as the first step in the evaluation of pleural effusion and, if evaluated together with the other criteria, the differentiation of pleural transudate from exsudates will become more accurate.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.119-138
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• 2016

Since the Industrial Revolution, which made the mass production and mass distribution of standardized goods possible, machine-made (manufactured) products have accounted for the majority of the market. However, in recent years, the phenomenon of purchasing even more expensive handmade products has become a noticeable trend as consumers have started to acknowledge the value of handmade products, such as the craftsman's commitment, belief in their quality and scarcity, and the sense of self-esteem from having them,. Consumer interest in these handmade products has shown explosive growth and has been coupled with the recent development of three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies. Etsy.com is the world's largest online handmade platform. It is no different from any other online platform; it provides an online market where buyers and sellers virtually meet to share information and transact business. However, Etsy.com is different in that shops within this platform only deal with handmade products in a variety of categories, ranging from jewelry to toys. Since its establishment in 2005, despite being limited to handmade products, Etsy.com has enjoyed rapid growth in membership, transaction volume, and revenue. Most recently in April 2015, it raised funds through an initial public offering (IPO) of more than 1.8 billion USD, which demonstrates the huge potential of online handmade platforms. After the success of Etsy.com, various types of online handmade platforms such as Handmade at Amazon, ArtFire, DaWanda, and Craft is ART have emerged and are now competing with each other, at the same time, which has increased the size of the market. According to Deloitte's 2015 holiday survey on which types of gifts the respondents plan to buy during the holiday season, about 16% of U.S. consumers chose "homemade or craft items (e.g., Etsy purchase)," which was the same rate as those for the computer game and shoes categories. This indicates that consumer interests in online handmade platforms will continue to rise in the future. However, this high interest in the market for handmade products and their platforms has not yet led to academic research. Most extant studies have only focused on machine-made products and intelligent services for them. This indicates a lack of studies on handmade products and their intelligent services on virtual platforms. Therefore, this study used signaling theory and prior research on the effects of sellers' characteristics on their performance (e.g., total sales and price premiums) in the buyer-seller relationship to identify the key influencing e-Image factors (e.g., reputation, size, information sharing, and length of relationship). Then, their impacts on the performance of shops within the online handmade platform were empirically examined; the dataset was collected from Etsy.com through the application of web harvesting technology. The results from the structural equation modeling revealed that the reputation, size, and information sharing have significant effects on the total sales, while the reputation and length of relationship influence price premiums. This study extended the online platform research into online handmade platform research by identifying key influencing e-Image factors on within-platform shop's total sales and price premiums based on signaling theory and then performed a statistical investigation. These findings are expected to be a stepping stone for future studies on intelligent online handmade services as well as handmade products themselves. Furthermore, the findings of the study provide online handmade platform operators with practical guidelines on how to implement intelligent online handmade services. They should also help shop managers build their marketing strategies in a more specific and effective manner by suggesting key influencing e-Image factors. The results of this study should contribute to the vitalization of intelligent online handmade services by providing clues on how to maximize within-platform shops' total sales and price premiums.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.512-527
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• 2012

Jangdo Island (area $1.54km^2$) located in the western end of Dadohae Haesang National Park has been recognized as an prominent ecoregion possessing high moor and national biodiversity hotspot. In terms of the Z$\ddot{u}$rich-Montpellier School's phytosociology, we investigate the diversity of plant communities on the island and reevaluate the Jangdo wetland designated as Ramsar site. Ten physiognomic types of the Jangdo's vegetation were classified into 22 syntaxa (3 associations, 15 communities and 4 subcommunities). Jangdo wetland was actually denominated as 'eutrophic wetland' by Pharagmitetea and Orizetea rather than 'high moor'. Nevertheless, existence value of the Jangdo wetland is evaluated very high as a stepping stone for migratory birds and even plant dispersions. A new site of the northernmost distribution of Arachniodo-Castanopsietum sieboldii, which is a kind of cold-resistant phytocoenosis among the Camellietea japonicae of the warm-temperate broad-leaved forests, was described. Hosta yingeri-Carpinus turczaninovii var. coreana community and Carex wahuensis var. robusta-Juniperus chinensis var. procumbens community were described specifically as an endemic and an edaphic vegetation type, respectively. The unique Jangdo's vegetation reflects regional environmental conditions such as much higher frequency of frost-free days and the highest number of annual average foggy days in Korea and a well-developed aquifer in the depressed basin formed by differential erosion. We identified that human interventions (pasture, logging, forest fire, cultivation, etc.) has been involved intensively on every vegetation types, even though a rugged and inaccessible topography of the island. Particularly the Jangdo wetland has been recently threatened by fundamental distortion on hydrological system. We request an immediate establishment of the conservation prescription manual.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.683-692
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• 1996

Background: Although most of the patients with tuberculous pleural effusions completely reabsorbed their effusions and became asymptomatic within 2 to 4 months, later surgical procedures such as decortication is needed in some patients because of dyspnea caused by pleural loculations and thickening despite anti-tuberculous chemotherapy. It is obligatory to secure adequate drainage to prevent the development of complications. But, the best methods for treating loculated tuberculous pleural effusions remain debatable. Recent several reports revealed that intrapleural instillation of fibrinolytic agents is an effective adjunct in the management of complicated empyema and may reduce the need of surgery. Purpose : The effects of catheterization with intrapleural urokinase instillation were prospectively evaluated in the patients with septated tuberculous pleural effusion, and compared with other therapeutic effects of different modalities of therapy such as repeated thoracentesis and small-bored catheterization. Methods : Forty-eight patients diagnosed with tuberculous pleurisy were randomly separated into three groups; control group(n=13), catheter group(n=12), urokinase group(n=22). In urokinase group, dose of 100.000U urokinase was instilled into the pleural cavity via a percutaneous drainage catheter for complete drainage or total dose of 700,000U of urokinase. After two hours clamping, the catheter was opened and intermittently irrigated. The early and late effectiveness of therapies was assessed by radiographically and by measuring the volume of fluid drained from the catheter. Results : There was statistically significantly better result in the urokinase group in respect of frequency of catheterization, frequency of catheter obstruction and the duration of catheterization in early effectiveness(p < 0.05). There were no difference in radiologic improvement of follow-up in later phase chest X-ray between urokinase group and catheter group in later phase(p > 0.05). But there were more failure rates in control group especially honeycomb septa in pleural effusion sonographically than former two groups. And there were no complications of urokinase such as fever or hemorrhage. Conclusion : In the treatment of septated tuberculous pleurisy, there were better results in urokinase than those of catheterization alone in early effectiveness. And there was no difference in radiographic improvement between urokinase group and catheter group. Intrapleural instillation of urokinase is an effective and safe mode of treatment for septated tuberculous pleural effusions and alleviates the need for thoracotomy.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.109-133
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• 2007

The legal labyrinth through which we have just walked is one in which even a highly proficient lawyer could easily become lost. Warsaw Convention's original objective of uniformity of private international aviation liability law has been eroded as the world community ha attempted again to address perceived problems. Efforts to create simplicity and certainty of recovery actually may have created less of both. In any particular case, the issue of which international convention, intercarrier agreement or national law to apply will likely be inconsistent with other decisions. The law has evolved faster for some nations, and slower for others. Under the Warsaw Convention of 1929, strict liability is imposed on the air carrier for damage, loss, or destruction of cargo, luggage, or goods sustained either: (1) during carriage in air, which is comprised of the period during which cargo is 'in charge of the carrier (a) within an aerodrome, (b) on board the aircraft, or (c) in any place if the aircraft lands outside an aerodrome; or (2) as a result of delay. By 2007, 151 nations had ratified the original Warsaw Convention, 136 nations had ratified the Hague Protocol, 84 had ratified the Guadalajara Protocol, and 53 nations had ratified Montreal Protocol No.4, all of which have entered into force. In November 2003, the Montreal Convention of 1999 entered into force. Several airlines have embraced the Montreal Agreement or the IATA Intercarrier Agreements. Only seven nations had ratified the moribund Guatemala City Protocol. Meanwhile, the highly influential U.S. Second Circuit has rendered an opinion that no treaty on the subject was in force at all unless both affected nations had ratified the identical convention, leaving some cases to fall between the cracks into the arena of common law. Moreover, in the United States, a surface transportation movement prior or subsequent to the air movement may, depending upon the facts, be subject to Warsaw, or to common law. At present, International private air law regime can be described as a "situation of utter chaos" in which "even legal advisers and judges are confused." The net result of this barnacle-like layering of international and domestic rules, standards, agreements, and criteria in the elimination of legal simplicity and the substitution in its stead of complexity and commercial uncertainty, which manifestly can not inure to the efficient and economical flow of world trade. All this makes a strong case for universal ratification of the Montreal Convention, which will supersede the Warsaw Convention and its various reformulations. Now that the Montreal Convention has entered into force, the insurance community may press the airlines to embrace it, which in turn may encourage the world's governments to ratify it. Under the Montreal Convention, the common law defence is available to the carrier even when it was not the sole cause of the loss or damage, again making way for the application of comparative fault principle. Hopefully, the recent entry into force of the Montreal Convention of 1999 will re-establish the international legal uniformity the Warsaw Convention of 1929 sought to achieve, though far a transitional period at least, the courts of different nations will be applying different legal regimes.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.142-148
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• 2002

Although ionizing radiation (IR) has been used to treat the various human cancers, IR is cytotoxic not only to cancer cells but to the adjacent normal tissue. Since normal tissue complications are the limiting factor of cancer radiotherapy, one of the major concerns of IR therapy is to maximize the cancer cell killing and to minimize the toxic side effects on the adjacent normal tissue. As an attempt to develop a method to monitor the degree of radiation exposure to normal tissues during radiotherapy, we investigated the transcriptional responses of human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) following IR using cDNA microarray chip containing 1,221 (1.2 K) known genes. Since conventional radiotherapy is delivered at about 24 h intervals at 180 to 300 cGy/day, we analyzed the transcriptional responses ex-vivo irradiated human PBL at 200 cGy for 24 h-period. We observed and report on 1) a group of genes transiently induced early after IR at 2 h, 2) of genes induced after IR at 6 h, 3) of genes induced after IR at 24 h and on 4) a group of genes whose expression patters were not changed after IR. Since Biological consequences of IR involve generation of various reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thus oxidative stress induced by the ROS is known to damage normal tissues during radiotherapy, we further tested the temporal expression profiles of genes involved in ROS modulation by RT-PCR. Specific changes of 6 antioxidant genes were identified in irradiated PBL among 9 genes tested. Our results suggest the potential of monitoring post-radiotherapy changes in temporal expression profiles of a specific set of genes as a measure of radiation effects on normal tissues. This type of approach should yield more useful information when validated in in vivo irradiated PBL from the cancer patients.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.459-468
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• 2001

The Average Coordinate Referenee System (ACRS) method is developed to reduce experimental errors in human locomotion analysis. Experimentally measured kinematic data is used to conduct analysis in human modeling, and the model accuracy is directly related to the accuracy of the data. However. the accuracy is questionable due to skin movement. deformation of skeletal structure while in motion and limitations of commercial motion analysis system . In this study. the ACRS method is applied to an optically-tracked segment marker system. although it can be applied to many of the others as well. In the ACRS method, each marker can be treated independently. as the origin of a local coordinate system for its body segment. Errors, inherent in the experimental process. result in different values for the recovered Euler angles at each origin. By employing knowledge of an initial, calibrated segment reference frame, the Euler angles at each marker location can be averaged. minimizing the effect of the skin extension and rotation. Using the developed ACRS methodology the error is reduced when compared to the general Euler angle method commonly applied in motion analysis. If there is no error exist in the experimental gait data. the separation and Penetration distance of the femoraltibial joint using absolute coordinate system is supposed to be zero during one gait cycle. The separation and Penetration distance was ranged up to 18 mm using general Euler angle method and 12 mm using the developed ACRS.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2009

The greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) and the sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) are serious insect pests that have a wide host range including cucumber, tomato, and pepper. In this study, we tested larvicidal efficacy of several on-the-market environment-friendly agricultural materials (EFAM) to select the effective products after the target pests were stabilized in indoor rearing condition. The developmental periods of two whiteflies are as follows: in the case of T. vaporariorum, egg duration is 9.6 days and nymph is 18.9 days, and in the case of B. tabaci, egg duration is 7.4 days and nymph is 15.2 days under $25^{\circ}C$ with relative humidity (RH) of $60{\pm}5%$ and a photoperiod of 16 L:8D. The total period of T. vaporariorum was 5 days longer than B. tabaci. Among 22 EFAMs six products showed more than 60% of insecticide efficacy against T. vaporariorum BTV B, BTV D, BTV G, BTV L, BTV M, and BTV S. On the other hand, seven EFAM products showed over 60% of insecticide efficacy against B. tabaci BTV D, BTV G, BTV K, BTV L, BTV M, BTV N, and BTV U. In the case of Spodptera litura previously, 16 EFAMs were tested against $2^{nd}$ instar S. litura, and six EFAMs were found to have more than 90% efficacy. Test of these six EFAMs against entire larval stages were performed in this study. Although some of these products showed still more than 90% of insecticidal efficacy against up to $3^{rd}$ instar larvae, the efficacy of these EFAMs sharply decreased as ages increase, resulting in less than 60% of efficacy of the products at most. This result indicates the difficulty to control S. litura with the on-the-market EFAMs alone under economic injury level. Collectively, it is required to find more EFAMs, and find alternative method, and combined way of controlling to control those insect pests tested in this study.