• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.71-77
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• 2023

Background: This study investigated the relationship between trauma exposure and suicidal ideation. Moreover, this study examines the moderating roles of organizational climate on the association between trauma exposure and suicidal ideation in Korean male firefighters. Methods: A total of 15,104 male firefighters who completed a questionnaire were analyzed. The data were obtained using an online self-administered questionnaire from the Firefighter Research on Enhancement of Safety and Health Study. Poisson regression analysis was performed to determine the effects of trauma exposure on suicidal ideation and the moderating effect of organizational climate. Results: The results showed that 389 firefighters (2.6%) responded that they had experienced suicidal ideation. In the final model, trauma exposure was positively related to suicidal ideation (adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 1.076; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.051-1.103), and organizational climate was negatively associated with suicidal ideation (aRR, 0.772; 95% CI: 0.739-0.806). Additionally, the interaction term (trauma exposure × organizational climate) was related to suicidal ideation (aRR, 1.016; 95% CI: 1.009-1.023). Conclusions: This study suggests that trauma exposure might play a significant role in developing suicidal ideation and that positive organizational climate moderates the negative effects of trauma exposure on suicidal ideation among firefighters. It is necessary to perform a follow-up study of various intervention strategies to maintain a healthy organizational climate or work environment. Such interventions should promote lasting trust within teams, provide social support and belonging, and nurture job value.

• Applied Chemistry
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2011

A disposable light exposure detector kit has been developed by UV curing of a hydrogel material. The devised light exposure detector kit consisted of light sensitive structures, bottom plate, character sheet and sticky back plate. A light exposure detector kit has a serial light sensitive structures that contain various light sensitive dyes such as rhodamine and fluorescein. The light sensitive structure composed of UV curable hydrogel polymer material as a supporing material and photosensitive dye in a certain concentration. The fabrication procedure of the ligh exposure detector kit is very simple and fast due to UV curing procedure of a photopolymerizable hydrogel material such as poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate (PEGMEA) and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) with a photosensitive dye. By the proposed fabrication method, various size and shape of a light exposure detector kit could be fabricated using a flexible elastomer mold. Due to a fast and inexpensive fabrication method, the light exposure detector kit could be use a single use for various industrial applications. According to light irradation, the light sensitive structure on a light exposure detector kit could be lose its color by decomposition of a photosensitive dye chemical in the structure. Thus the amount of the exposed light on a substrate could easily be recognised by changing color or transparency of the structure.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.117-126
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• 2024

This study aims to identify high exposure tasks among the tasks performed in domestic nuclear power plants as a basis for developing training programs to improve the efficiency of workers' work. To this end, we first analyzed the exposure status of radiation work in domestic nuclear power plants. Radiation tasks in nuclear power plants were categorized, collective doses were investigated, and the collective doses were calculated based on the collective doses, and representative high exposure tasks were identified. We found that the collective and individual doses in domestic nuclear power plants are continuously decreasing, but there is an imbalance of exposure among workers. In terms of work classification, nuclear power plants are managed in 236 work codes based on light water reactors and 181 work codes based on heavy water reactors, depending on the work equipment and location. Among the total work codes, 23 codes have an annual average dose exceeding 10 μSv, and based on this, 10 representative high exposure tasks were derived. The representative high exposure tasks were selected as S/G nozzle dam work, S/G debris removal work, nuclear instrumentation system, S/G eddy current detection work, and insulation work. The results of this study are expected to serve as an important basis for reducing the exposure of workers in nuclear power plants and improving work efficiency.

• ALGAE
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.243-251
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• 2011

Environmental conditions can influence the morphology of local biota through phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation. Macroalgal morphologies are often associated with wave-exposure conditions. We investigated the relationship between morphology and wave exposure in two common endemic subtidal macroalgae, Carpophyllum angustifolium and C. maschalocarpum, from the East Cape of New Zealand. Morphological comparisons were made between individuals from two sites and four different wave-exposure zones, as defined by fetch and barnacle composition. Of the seven morphological traits measured in C. angustifolium, only total length varied, and individuals were longer in more wave-exposed environments between the two exposure zones where the species were found. In contrast, total length, stipe thickness and vesicle presence all varied significantly between exposure zones in C. maschalocarpum. C. maschalocarpum specimens were shorter with thinner stipes, and fewer individuals had vesicles in the more wave-exposed zones. Morphological traits of both species also varied between sites, suggesting that other influences are important for determining species morphology. Further study is needed to investigate the role of phenotypic plasticity and genetic variability for driving morphological variation in C. angustifolium and C. maschalocarpum.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2005

In spite of the importance of nuclear power as one of major electric energies in Korea, the nuclear safety has become the most serious social issue in the operation of the nuclear power plant. In this paper, a virtual work simulation program was developed to predict exposure dose during radiation work in radwaste storage. The work simulation program was developed. using $Java ^{TM}$applet and VRML-virtual reality modeling language. A numerical algorithm to find the optimal work path which minimize exposure dose during the given work, was developed and exposure dose on the optimal work path was compared with that on the shortest path. Comparing with the shortest path for the given work, the predicted optimal path consumed longer work time by II% but reduced total exposure dose by 46%. The simulation result showed that the exposure dose depended on not only work time, but also the distance between the worker and the radiation source. The developed simulation program could be a useful tool for the planning of radioactive waste work to increase the radiation safety of workers.

• IEIE Transactions on Smart Processing and Computing
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 2012

An image obtained from a low light environment results in a low-exposure problem caused by non-ideal camera settings, i.e. aperture size and shutter speed. Of particular note, the multiple color-filter aperture (MCA) system inherently suffers from low-exposure problems and performance degradation in its image classification and registration processes due to its finite size of the apertures. In this context, this paper presents a novel method for the color enhancement of low-exposure images and its application to color shift model-based MCA system for image refocusing. Although various histogram equalization (HE) approaches have been proposed, they tend to distort the color information of the processed image due to the range limits of the histogram. The proposed color enhancement algorithm enhances the global brightness by analyzing the basic cause of the low-exposure phenomenon, and then compensates for the contrast degradation artifacts by using an adaptive histogram specification. We also apply the proposed algorithm to the preprocessing step of the refocusing technique in the MCA system to enhance the color image. The experimental results confirm that the proposed method can enhance the contrast of any low-exposure color image acquired by a conventional camera, and is suitable for commercial low-cost, high-quality imaging devices, such as consumer-grade camcorders, real-time 3D reconstruction systems, digital, and computational cameras.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.326-329
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• 2005

A worker who grinded the inner parts of camshafts for automobile engines using water-soluble metalworking fluid (MWF) for 14 years was diagnosed with sinusitis. We postulated that the outbreak of sinusitis could be associated with exposure to microbes contaminated in water-soluble MWF during the grinding operation. To suggest responsible agents for this outbreak, quantitative exposure assessment for chemical and biological agents and prevalence of work-related respiratory symptoms by questionnaire were studied. The exposure ranges of MWF mist (0.59 $mg/m^3$to 2.12 $mg/m^3$) measured during grinding exceeded 0.5 $mg/m^3$ of the recommended exposure limit (REL). Grinder's exposures to bacteria, fungi and endotoxins were also generally higher than not only the proposed standards, but also those reported by several studies to identify the cause of respiratory effects. Statistical test indicated that the prevalence rate of reported symptoms related to nasal cavities showed no significant differences among the operations. Evaluation on grinding operation characteristics and quantitative exposure assessment indicated that repeated exposure to MWF mist including microbes contaminated from the use of water-soluble MWF may cause respiratory diseases like sinusitis or at least increase susceptibility to the development of sinusitis

• Toxicological Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 2003

This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of oxygen on motor activity and toxicity in male mice. The modified Porsolt forced swim test (FST) was used and the distance and time of movement by mice were analyzed in 15。C water bath for 20 minutes using the automatic Ethovision videotracking system. Analyses were carried out before and after 20 minutes of exposure to 10％-70％ concentration of normobaric oxygen. The effects of inspired oxygen tension on the distance and time of movement showed the similar trends, but changes in distance were more prominent. Both the distance and time of movement increased after exposure to 30％ and 40％ oxygen concentration. The distance and time of movement also increased upon exposure to 50％ and 60％ oxygen. In contrast, increases En movement and time under exposure to 21％ oxygen concentration were suppressed when exposed to over 50％ oxygen concentration. With exposure to 10％ oxygen, there was a significant decrease in the distance of movement and a slight suppression of movement time. During the swim test, 12.5％, 37.5％, and 87.5％ of the mice drowned after exposure to 10％, 60％, and 70％ oxygen concentration, respectively. These results suggest that motor activity can be enhanced by inspired oxygen up to 40％ concentration. When hypoxic and hyperoxic oxygen exposure over 50％, motor activity is reduced and toxicity may be induced.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.19-40
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• 2017

A scientific and objective sound exposure criterion for underwater sound damage on fish has been required since there has been many disputes between an underwater sound maker and a fish damage receiver. The existing criteria are still incomplete scientifically owing to a degree of variability of underwater sounds, diversity of fish hearing sensitivity and damage types, etc. This study reviews existing studies on a hearing mechanism of fish species, manmade underwater sound characteristics and sound exposure assessment parameters, and recent sound exposure criteria. A governing equation for damage coverage estimation and damage coverage dependency on sound source level, ambient noise and transmission loss are also reviewed and interpreted based on sound exposure environments. The foreign and Korean (National Environmental Dispute Medication Commission) criteria are reviewed and compared based on scientific aspects. In addition, the deficit and limit of Korean criteria are presented. The objective of this study is to give a direction for related researches and legislation of sound exposure criteria on fish.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.251-258
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• 2001

Indoor and outdoor nitrogen dioxide(NO$_2$) concentrations of 122 houses were measured and compared with measurements of personal NO$_2$ exposure simultaneously . Time activity patterns were used to determine the impacts on NO$_2$ exposure assessment and time weighed average model to estimate the personal NO$_2$ exposure. Most people spent their times more than 80% of indoor and more than 50% in home, respectively. Personal NO$_2$ esposure was found to be significantly associated with both indoor NO$_2$ concentration(r=0.70) and outdoor NO$_2$ concentration (r=0.68). Using time weighted average model, personal NO$_2$ exposure was estimated with NO$_2$ measurements in indoor home, indoor workplace and outdoor home. The estimated NO$_2$ measurements were significantly correlated with measured personal exposures(r=0.69, N=122). For the difference between measured and estimated NO$_2$ exposures by multiple regression analysis showed that NO$_2$ concentrations in near workplace and other outdoors of no NO$_2$ measurements affected the personal NO$_2$ exposures(p=0.023).