• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.367-375
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• 2014

Objectives: The main purpose of this study is to produce background data which can be compared with several large-scale industrial complex regions. Methods: The framework of this study was designed to evaluate and monitor health effects associated with low-level and long-term exposure to environmental pollutants. In this study, 1,009 local residents were recruited in the city of Chungju using personal questionnaires, medical check-ups, and allergen skin-prick tests for 12 common allergens. The prevalence rate of skin allergens was reviewed together with that from large-scale industrial areas. Results: The diagnosis prevalence and medical treatment prevalence of asthma was 5.6% and 1.7%, respectively. Allergic rhinitis was 25.4% and 16.7%, allergic dermatitis was 16.6% and 9.9% and allergic conjunctivitis was 18.7% and 7.9%, respectively. These results were similar with those of industrial complexes. The prevalence of allergen skin-prick test was 16.4% and the most common allergen was dust mites (27.9-31.6%). This result was lower than those of the industrial complexes (22.5-39.9%) and Gangneung (18.2-24.7%). Conclusion: Further study is required to find the cause of the regional differences in skin prick prevalence.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.63-73
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• 2015

Objective: The goal of this study is to evaluate the comprehensibility of the newly introduced water-sport prohibitive signs by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE, later merged into the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) among Koreans and westerners, and to check whether the comprehensibility is affected by cultural differences. Background: The Ministry of Knowledge Economy had newly introduced fourteen water-sport prohibitive signs at the end of 2011 to alert people to potentially dangerous situations. However, no studies had been found so far to review or assess their comprehensibility. Method: Comprehensibility tests of fourteen water-sport prohibitive signs were conducted with forty Koreans and forty Westerners in two sequential sessions. In session I, participants were asked to guess the meaning of each sign verbally in an open-ended test. In session II, participants were encouraged to provide feedback for each sign after its intended meaning was given. Results: Only two out of fourteen signs satisfied the comprehension rate (67%) recommended by ISO standard for both groups (Koreans and Westerners). Cultural difference between Koreans and westerners significantly affect the comprehension rates of the investigated signs, and Westerners exhibit better overall comprehension than Koreans. Five poorly comprehended signs for both Korean and Western groups were identified. Conclusion: The recently introduced water-sport prohibitive warning signs by MKE still need a lot of improvements in order to be implemented nationally or internationally. There were significant differences in the signs' comprehensibility between Koreans and westerners. Application: The findings may serve as a useful input for researchers and watersport sign designers in creating easy-to-comprehend safety signs.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.2052-2059
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• 2020

Background: Kinesiology taping (KT) is a method that helps immediately increase muscle activation, strength and joint stability by being attached to various skeletal muscles and structures of the body. Objectives: To investigate the effect of KT applied below the hyolaryngeal complex on the movement of the hyolaryngeal complex during swallowing in patients with dysphagia after stroke. Design: One-group, pre-post design. Methods: Twenty individuals with dysphagia after stroke participated in this study. KT was applied to the sternum and both clavicles from the hyolaryngeal complex. We analyzed the motion of the hyolaryngeal complex during swallowing with and placebo KT and KT using the Image-J software with videofluoroscopic swallowing study. In addition, a 0-to-10 numerical rating self-report scale was used to check the required effort and resistance felt during swallowing. Results: KT condition showed that the anterior and superior movement of the hyoid bone during swallowing was significantly lower than placebo KT (P<.05, all). Also, KT condition showed that the anterior and superior movement of the larynx during swallowing was significantly lower than placebo KT (P<.05, all). In result of statistical comparison between KT group and placebo KT group, the KT group showed significantly higher self-report scale score than the placebo KT group in terms of two category; the required effort and resistance felt (P<.05, all). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that KT applied below the hyolaryngeal complex inhibits the anterior and superior movement of hyoid bone and larynx during swallowing of patients with dysphagia after stroke.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2020

Background: This study aims to analyze the job stress of dental hygienists and the factors affecting somatization and to provide basic data for effectively managing job stress and somatization of dental hygienists. Methods: In this study, the data collected from 208 dental hygienists working in Jeollabuk-do Province were analyzed. Job stress was investigated using a questionnaire with 43 questions. In addition, the degree of somatization was evaluated through a simplified psychotherapy examination (Symptom Check List-90-Revision). Results: Age, employment history, position, average monthly income, night duty execution status, and perceived health status were significantly associated with job stress (p<0.05). The job stress sub-items scores based on general characteristics showed significance in 'workload' for those working a five-day workweek and perceived health status (p<0.05). Age, average monthly income, and perceived health status were noted in 'role conflict as a professional'. In 'lack of expertise and skill', it was noted that age, employment history, position, income, and night clinic were implemented. In 'improper treatment and interpersonal issues', level of education and perceived health status were significant (p<0.05). The higher the job stress, the higher the somatization symptom score (p<0.05), and the higher the job stress component, the higher the somatization symptom score (p<0.01). Conclusion: The job stress of dental hygienists should be reduced, and the symptoms of somatization should be mitigated. To improve the quality of medical services and the work efficiency of dental hygienists, proper treatment and compensation systems should be implemented for them to take pride as professional. Further, programs and regulations on mitigating job stress and somatization symptoms should be developed.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

Background: The use of radiation and radioisotopes in Korea has been increasing each year, and its impact on economy and industry is expected to be increasing progressively following the development of industrial technology and the expansion of their usage. To establish and supporting policies for industries using radiation and radioisotopes, it is necessary to check the status of related industries accurately, as well as to gather data required to establish plans for industrial development by studying both revenues and economic scale (contributing to revenue). Materials and Methods: To analyze the status of utilization, surveys were carried out on 6,621 organizations engaged in nuclear operations handling radiation and radioisotopes pursuant to the Nuclear Safety Act as of end 2014, on 33,471 medical institutions using radiation generators for medical and diagnostic purposes pursuant to the Medical Service Act, and on 2,218 organizations using radiation generators for animal diagnostics pursuant to the Veterinary License Act. Results and discussion: The overall status of the domestic radiation market including the number of user organizations, that of employees, and the size of distributions (imports, productions, and exports) with which the scale of domestic radiation market can be judged showed a growth trend compared to the previous year, though the number of employees for radiation operation in industrial sector, research sector, education sector, military sector, and power plants (nuclear power plants) and the size of imports was reduced somewhat. Conclusion: It is expected that data acquired through periodic surveys on the status of utilization would be utilized practically in establishing governmental policies related to the promotion of usage of radiation and radioisotopes, and also be utilized widely in cultivating and developing the industry efficiently to invigorate the related industries.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.73-83
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• 2016

Pedestrian safety was recently highlighted with a yellow carpet, a yellow-colored pavement material prepared for children waiting for signals for pedestrian crossing, without validation of its efficiency in practice. It was a promising device likely to assist highway safety by stimulating pedestrian to step on the yellow-colored area; it was generally called nudge effects. This paper delivers a study conducted to check the effectiveness of yellow carpet in three different aspects in vehicle driver's perspective by applying the newly introduced information technology (IT) service: Visual Attention Software (VAS). It was assumed that VAS developed by 3M in the United States should be able explain the Korean drivers' visual reaction behaviors since technology embedded in VAS was developed based on and proved by other various international countries and continents in the world. A set of pictures was taken at thirteen different field sites in seven school zone areas in the Seoul metropolitan area before and after the installation of a yellow carpet, respectively. Sets of those pictures were analyzed with VAS, and the results were compared based on the selective safety measures: the likely focusing on standing pedestrians (waiting for a pedestrian's green signal time) affected by its background (yellow-colored pavement) contrasting him or her. The test results from a set of before-and-after comparison analyses showed that the placement of yellow carpet would (1) increase 71% of driver's visual attention on pedestrian crossing areas and (2) change the sequential order of visual attention on that area 2.4 steps ahead. The findings would enhance deployment of such promising efficiency and thus increase children safety in pedestrian crossing. The result was promising to highlight the way to support the changes in conservative traffic safety engineering field by applying the advanced IT services, while much robust research was recommended to overcome the limitation of simplification of this study.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.453-458
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: Coleosporium plectranthi, an obligate parasite, which is responsible for the rust disease of Perilla frutescens, a plant in Korea, commonly known as Perilla. All rusts are obligate parasites, meaning that they require a living host to complete their life cycle. They generally do not kill the host plant but can severely reduce growth and yield. Food and feed spoilage fungi cause great economic losses worldwide. It is estimated that between 5 and 10% of the world food production is wasted due to fungal deterioration. Rust disease of Perilla is highly frequent and is widely spread in Korea. The present study was designed to investigate a novel media for the urediniospore germination in vitro and anti-rust activity as well as GC-MS analysis of oak pyroligneous liquor. METHOD AND RESULTS: Urediniospores were collected from the infected leaf of Perilla. Spore suspension was made and the suspension was inoculated in the 2% water agar media with proper humidity, then they were incubated at $26^{\circ}C$ for 56 hrs. The GC-MS analysis of the oak pyroligneous liquor was also done to check the chemical composition. GC-MS analysis of the wood vinegar was found 15 compounds, among them o-mthoxyphenol (25.93%), 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (16.06%), 4-methylenecyclohexanone (10.69%), 2,3-dihydroxytoluene (7.84%), levoglucosane (6.14%) and propanoic acid (5.32%) were the major components. Different concentration of the oak pyroligneous liquor was used, and spore inhibition was recorded on the basis of spore counting. The best results were noted at the concentration of 50% solution where 31.8% spores were inhibited. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the chemical composition of the oak pyroligneous liquor and the activity recorded we can use it as an anti-rust agent.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.65
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• pp.89-108
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• 2020

Twenty years after the Records Managemen Act was first enacted, the archiving environment has changed a lot. The advent of the electronic records environment, the importance of presidential records management, and the importance of managing private records have been a direct background to the 2006 revision of the Records Management Act. The field of electronic records management and the field of presidential records management have challenges and limitations, but have been steadily developing. However, in the private sector, archiving has not changed significantly compared to the voluntary activity. Now the maeul-community is calling for a response from the records management community. A society develops when the private and public sectors cooperate with each other and form healthy check-ups. In the archiving field, it must also become active through cooperation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2901-2907
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• 2016

Background: Despite increasing debate about overdiagnosis and overtreatment of thyroid cancer in Korea, information to guide decisions on whether or not to undergo screening for and treatment of abnormal lesions of the thyroid is lacking. Moreover, studies have yet to outline what lay people know and want to know about thyroid cancer. The primary aim of this study was to explore general awareness of thyroid cancer among Korean women, their sources of information, and their satisfaction with the information they are provided. The secondary aim was to investigate information needs about thyroid cancer. Materials and Methods: A qualitative study using focus group interviews was conducted. Twenty-nine women were divided into four groups: (1) participants who had never undergone thyroid ultrasound screening; (2) those who had undergone screening, (3) those who continued to undergo regular check-ups with ultrasonography for benign nodules of the thyroid; and (4) participants who had undergone surgery for thyroid cancer. Results: A widespread lack of awareness of information on thyroid cancer was noted among participants in groups 1 and 2 who were not well aware of thyroid cancer and generally recognized it as a 'good cancer'. Surprisingly, instead of doctors and medical personnel, most participants reported obtaining information from acquaintances and media outlets. Moreover, most participants described dissatisfaction with their experience with screening and a lack of explanation on treatment and test results from medical personnel. Conclusions: Women in Korea seek reliable information on thyroid cancer that could help them to better understand the disease and make informed decisions regarding screening and treatment. More effort is needed from medical personnel to communicate the implications of thyroid cancer, screening results, and treatments thereof to lay people.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5237-5242
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• 2016

Background: Cancer screening rates are lower in Japan than those in western countries. Health professionals publish procancer screening messages on the internet to encourage audiences to undergo cancer screening. However, the information provided is often difficult to read for lay persons. Further, anti-cancer screening activists warn against cancer screening with messages on the Internet. We aimed to assess and compare the readability of pro- and anti-cancer screening online messages in Japan using a measure of readability. Methods: We conducted web searches at the beginning of September 2016 using two major Japanese search engines (Google.jp and Yahoo!.jp). The included websites were classified as "anti", "pro", or "neutral" depending on the claims, and "health professional" or "non-health professional" depending on the writers. Readability was determined using a validated measure of Japanese readability. Statistical analysis was conducted using two-way ANOVA. Results: In the total 159 websites analyzed, anti-cancer screening online messages were generally easier to read than pro-cancer screening online messages, Messages written by health professionals were more difficult to read than those written by non-health professionals. Claim ${\times}$ writer interaction was not significant. Conclusion: When health professionals prepare pro-cancer screening materials for publication online, we recommend they check for readability using readability assessment tools and improve text for easy comprehension when necessary.