• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1026-1032
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• 2004

In this study, we assess the recent changes in the amount of excretion by the livestock industry, and discuss the effects of increasing the ratio of cultivated land on the reduction of surplus nitrogen from a cost-performance perspective. Nitrogen has contributed to acidification of ecosystems and nitrate concentrations in groundwater, especially in Europe. Therefore, we assessed the level of nitrogen waste from the domestic Japanese livestock industry, including cattle, swine and poultry during the period 1987-2001. This assessment assumed that 40% of the nitrogen from the domestic livestock industry was emitted as gas into the air and that 60% of the nitrogen was contained in manure used on domestic cultivated land. Nitrogen excreted from livestock, excluding gas emission, decreased by 11% from 0.504 million tons to 0.447 million tons during 1993-2001. Thus, the peak period of nitrogen excretion from livestock is already past in Japan. However, the area of cultivated land under management also decreased during 1990-2000. In addition, the area of paddy and upland fields left unplanted for a year increased during 1990-2000. Therefore, if all manure from the domestic livestock industry had been utilized on the fields as organic fertilizer, but not on arable land left uncultivated for the past year, the nitrogen per net area of cultivated land would have increased by 5%, from 125 to 131 N kg/ha, during 1990-2000. To reduce the nitrogen ratio on cultivated land through the planting of feed grain to utilize the nitrogen, a comparison of the cost performance of feed grains indicated that barley would be more suitable than wheat, rice or soybean. Had barley been planted in 100% of the land left fallow for the past year in 2000, 4% (20,000 tons) of the nitrogen from livestock waste would have been used in the harvest, and the nitrogen per land unit would have not increased but decreased from 125 to 121 N kg/ha during the same decade. Furthermore, when converted into Total Digestible Nutrients, 7% of imported feed corn could have been replaced with the harvested barley in 2000. Planting barley on this fallow land had three benefits; reducing the risk of manure overload on the land, slowing down the decrease in cultivated land, and raising the feed self-sufficiency ratio. Thus, it would be beneficial to plant feed grain such as barley in land left fallow for the past year through utilization of manure.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3357-3362
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• 2013

The human skeleton is the most common organ to be affected by metastatic cancer and bone metastases are a major cause of cancer morbidity. The five most frequent cancers in Malaysia among males includes prostate whereas breast cancer is among those in females, both being associated with skeletal lesions. Bone metastases weaken bone structure, causing a range of symptoms and complications thus developing skeletal-related events (SRE). Patients with SRE may require palliative radiotherapy or surgery to bone for pain, having hypercalcaemia, pathologic fractures, and spinal cord compression. These complications contribute to a decline in patient healthrelated quality of life. The multidimensional assessment of health-related quality of life for those patients is important other than considering a beneficial treatment impact on patient survival, since the side effects of treatment and disease symptoms can significantly impact health-related quality of life. Cancer treatment could contribute to significant financial implications for the healthcare system. Therefore, it is essential to assess the health-related quality of life and treatment cost, among prostate and breast cancer patients in countries like Malaysia to rationalized cost-effective way for budget allocation or utilization of health care resources, hence helping in providing more personalized treatment for cancer patients.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.165-170
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• 2007

Purpose: To estimate the shape of root and pulp canal using a dental cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and to evaluate the accuracy of imaging reformation. Materials and Methods: CBCT images were obtained with incisors, premolars, and molars as the destination by using PSR $9000N^{TM}$ Dental CT system (Asahi Roentgen Ind. Co., Ltd, Kyoto, Japan) and i-CAT (Imaging Sciences International, Inc, USA) cone beam CT unit that have different kind of detector and field of view, and compared these with the shape and the size of actual root and root canal. Results: When the measuring value of cone beam computed tomography concerning to each root's bucco-lingual diameter and mesio-distal diameter was compared with the value of the actual root, it reveals an error range $-0.49{\sim}+0.63$ mm at PSR900N and $-0.97{\sim}+1.14$ mm at i-CAT (P>0.05). It was possible to identify and measure PSR$9000N^{TM}$ Dental CT system to the limit $0.48{\pm}0.06mm$ (P>0.05) and i-CAT CBCT to the limit $0.86{\pm}0.09mm$ (P<0.05) on estimating the size and the shape of root canal. Two kinds of CBCT images revealed the useful reproducibility to estimate the shape of root, but there was the difference to estimate the shape of root according to apparatus. The reproducibility of root shape in the image of three-dimensions at PSR 900N is low such as 0.65 mm in a case of minute root canal. Conclusions: CBCT images revealed higher accuracy of the imaging reformation for root and pulp and clinically CBCT is a useful diagnostic tool for the assessment of root and canal. However, there are different qualities of imaging reformation according to CBCT apparatus and limitation of reproducibility for minute root canals.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.121-130
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• 2019

Purpose: To investigate the spatial distribution of diabetes-related lower limb amputations and analyze the relationship between the spatial distribution of diabetes-related lower limb amputations and regional factors. Materials and Methods: This study was performed based on the data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, in 2016. The unit of analysis was the administrative districts of city·gun·gu. The dependent variable was the age- and sex-adjusted incidence of diabetes-related lower limb amputations and the regional variables were selected to represent two aspects: socioeconomic factors, and health and medical factors. Along with traditional ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis, geographically weighted regression (GWR) was applied for spatial analysis. Results: The age- and sex-adjusted incidence of diabetes-related lower limb amputation varied according to region. OLS regression showed that the incidence of diabetes-related lower limb amputation had significant relationships with the health and medical factors (number of healthcare institution and doctors per 100,000 population). In GWR, the effects of regional factors were not consistent. Conclusion: The spatial distribution of the incidence of diabetes-related lower limb amputations and the effects of regional factors varied according to the regions. The regional characteristics should be considered when establishing health policy related to diabetic foot care.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.225-236
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• 2016

Objectives: Nanomaterials have been used in various fields. As use of nanoproducts is increasing, workers dealing with nanomaterials are also gradually increasing. Exposure assessments for nanomaterials have been carried out for protection of worker's health in workplace. Exposure studies were mainly focused on manufacturing processes, but these studies on after-treatment processes such as refinement, weighing, and packing were insufficient. So, we investigated exposure characteristics of particles during after-treatment processes of $Al_2O_3$ fibers and Ni powders. Methods: Mass-production of Ni powder process was carried out in enclosed capture-type canopy hood. In a developing stage, $Al_2O_3$ was handled with a local ventilation unit. Exposure characteristics of particles were investigated for $Al_2O_3$ fiber and Ni powder processes during the periods of 10:00 to 16:00, 20 May 2014 and 13:00 to 16:00, 21 May 2014, respectively. Three real-time aerosol instruments were utilized in exposure assessment. A scanning mobility particle sizer(SMPS, nanoscan, model 3910, TSI) and an optical particle counter(OPC, portable aerosol spectrometer, model 1.109, Grimm) were used to determine the particle size distribution in the size range of 10-420 nm and $0.25-32{\mu}m$, respectively. In addition, a nanoparticle aerosol monitor(NAM, model 9000, TSI) was used to measure lung-deposited nanoparticle surface area. Membrane filters(isopore membrane filter, pore size of 100 nm) were also used for air sampling for the FE-SEM(model S-5000H, Hitachi) analysis using a personal sampling pump(model GilAir Plus by 2.5 L/min, Gilian). Conclusions: For Ni powder after-treatment process, only 27% increase in particle concentration was found during the process. However, for $Al_2O_3$ fiber after-treatment process, significant exposure(1.56-3.34 times) was observed during the process.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2000

Objectives : To propose the referential data to evaluate the health impacts of Vietnam veterans' children whose father were exposed to herbicides in Vietnam War. Methods : Vietnam veterans who visited to Pusan Veteran Hospital for medical care were recruited from April to October, 1998. They were 71 and asked about their own combat history, symptoms and illness, and health status of their 182 children. The informations were collected by direct and phone interview. Exposure estimation was also performed as exposure score depending on year and unit of participation, and personal episodes related to exposure to herbicide in the war. It classified into three groups; lower(<18.0), moderate(18-53), high$(\geq53)$ exposure group. Results : The mean age and the period into the combat of the veterans were 52.8 years and 15.0 months. The mean exposure score was $18.1{\pm}9.9$, and mainly distributed in lower (46.5%) and moderate(52.1%) exposure group. Most(90.1%) of them were diagnosed as sequelae(21 cases) and suspected sequelae(43 cases) of the herbicides by Korean veteran's hospital diagnostic criteria. The major sequelae was peripheral neuropathy 13 cases, chloracne 5 cases, and the major suspected sequelae was hypertension 20 cases, diabetes mellitus 18 cases, liver disease 12 cases, central neuropathy 11 cases, etc. About birth, 42.2% and 16.9% experienced spontaneous abortion and stillbirth, respectively. The mean exposure score was higher in stillbirth experience group(p<0.05). About half of the children(90 cases, 49.5%) hold the abnormal health status: those were skin pigmentation 38 cases, rash 23 cases, congenital anomaly 15 cases, general weakness 12 cases, purpura 8 cases, visual disturbance 8 cases, etc. These health problems had no association with father's exposure level(p>0.05). Conclusions : These results were depend on their own answers, and expectation for compensation did not excluded, therefore, this study may have limitations: inaccuracy of informations due to recall bias and response bias. Nevertheless, through this study, we could image the fundamental aspect for health impacts of Vietnam veterans' children for preparing the national control program and policy. A large scale epidemiologic study with valid exposure assessment on the health impacts of Vietnam veterans' children is recommneded.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.237-245
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• 2011

As necessity of safety re-evaluation for spent fuel storage facility has emphasized after the Fukushima accident, accuracy improvement of heat load evaluation has become more important to acquire reliable thermal-hydraulic evaluation results. As groundwork, parametric and sensitivity analyses of various storage conditions for Kori Unit 4 spent fuel storage pool and spent fuel depletion parameters such as axial burnup effect, operation history, and specific heat are conducted using ORIGEN2 code. According to heat load evaluation and parametric sensitivity analyses, decay heat of last discharged fuel comprises maximum 80.42% of total heat load of storage facility and there is a negative correlation between effect of depletion parameters and cooling period. It is determined that specific heat is most influential parameter and operation history is secondly influential parameter. And decay heat of just discharged fuel is varied from 0.34 to 1.66 times of average value and decay heat of 1 year cooled fuel is varied from 0.55 to 1.37 times of average value in accordance with change of specific power. Namely depletion parameters can cause large variation in decay heat calculation of short-term cooled fuel. Therefore application of real operation data instead of user selection value is needed to improve evaluation accuracy. It is expected that these results could be used to improve accuracy of heat load assessment and evaluate uncertainty of calculated heat load.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.347-358
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• 2012

The SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) should be calibrated and validated with observed data to secure accuracy of model prediction. Recently, the SWAT-CUP (Calibration and Uncertainty Program for SWAT) software, which can calibrate SWAT using various algorithms, were developed to help SWAT users calibrate model efficiently. In this study, three algorithms (GLUE: Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation, PARASOL: Parameter solution, SUFI-2: Sequential Uncertainty Fitting ver. 2) in the SWAT-CUP were applied for the Soyang-gang dam watershed to evaluate these algorithms. Simulated total streamflow and 0~75% percentile streamflow were compared with observed data, respectively. The NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency) and $R^2$ (Coefficient of Determination) values were the same from three algorithms but the P-factor for confidence of calibration ranged from 0.27 to 0.81 . the PARASOL shows the lowest p-factor (0.27), SUFI-2 gives the greatest P-factor (0.81) among these three algorithms. Based on calibration results, the SUFI-2 was found to be suitable for calibration in Soyang-gang dam watershed. Although the NSE and $R^2$ values were satisfactory for total streamflow estimation, the SWAT simulated values for low flow regime were not satisfactory (negative NSE values) in this study. This is because of limitations in semi-distributed SWAT modeling structure, which cannot simulated effects of spatial locations of HRUs (Hydrologic Response Unit) within subwatersheds in SWAT. To solve this problem, a module capable of simulating groundwater/baseflow should be developed and added to the SWAT system. With this enhancement in SWAT/SWAT-CUP, the SWAT estimated streamflow values could be used in determining standard flow rate in TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Load) application at a watershed.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.289-302
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• 2011

Since the frequency of the earthquake occurrence in Korean peninsular is continuously increasing, the possibility that massive landslides are triggered by earthquake is also growing in Korea. Previously, the landslide is known to be induced by large magnitude earthquake, whose magnitude is larger than 6.0. However, the landslide can be induced by only small magnitude earthquake, especially in the fully saturated soil. Therefore, the susceptibility of landslide caused by small magnitude earthquake in fully saturated soil is analyzed in this study. For that, the topographical and geological characteristics of the site were obtained and managed by GIS software. In the procedure of the study, slope angle, cohesion, friction angle, unit weight of soil were obtained and constructed as a spatial database layer. Combining these data sets in a dynamic model based on Newmark's displacement analysis, the landslide displacements were estimated in each grid cell. In order to check out the possibility of the earthquake induced landslides, the level of the groundwater table is varied from dry to 80% saturated soil. In addition, in order to analyze the effect of the magnitude of earthquake and distance to epicenter, four different earthquakes epicenters were considered in the study area.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.121-130
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• 2005

Geographical Information System(GIS) was established to display the calculation results which show the concentration change with time and regions in case of an accidental release of radionuclides from Kori Nuclear Power Plants. GIS included the commercial program, ArcView(ESRI), and a basic digital map of 1:5000 scale lot 20km by 20km around Kori area. The object for the presentation was $^{131}I$ concentration in rice which is one of staple foodstuffs. Provided by deposited $^{131}I$ concentrations, ECOREA-II code computed the $^{131}I$ concentration of the soil and the plant in the area divided by In unit cells in total, in which the concentrations also varied with time. The results were introduced into the attributed data of previously designed polygon cells in ArcView. In order to display the concentration change with time by monotonic color, the RGB value for ArcView color lamp was controlled. This display definitely helped the concentration change around Kori area be acceptable to public.