• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.457-473
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• 2023

Asbestos has been produced, imported and used in various industries in Korea over the past decades. Since asbestos causes fatal diseases such as malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer, the use of asbestos has been generally banned in Korea since 2009. However, there are still many asbestos-containing materials around us, and safe management is urgently needed. This study aims to examine asbestos-related trend changes using major asbestos-related keywords based on the asbestos trend analysis using big data for the past 32 years (1991 to 2022) in Korea. In addition, we reviewed both domestic trends related to the production, import, and use of asbestos before 1990 and asbestos-related policies from 2023 to 2027. From 1991 to 2000, main keywords related to asbestos were research, workers, carcinogens, and the environment because the carcinogenicity of asbestos was highlighted due to domestic production, import, and use of asbestos. From 2001 to 2010, the main keywords related to asbestos were lung cancer, litigation, carcinogens, exposure, and companies because lawsuits were initiated in the US and Japan in relation to carcinogenicity due to asbestos. From 2011 to 2020, the high ranking keywords related to asbestos were carcinogen, baseball field, school, slate, building, and abandoned asbestos mine due to the seriousness of the asbestos problem in Korea. From 2021 to present (2023), the main search keywords related to asbestos such as school, slate (asbestos cement), buildings, landscape stone, environmental impact assessment, apartment, and cement appeared.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.489-495
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• 2023

Radiation shielding facilities are constructed in locations where diagnostic radiation generators are installed, with the aim of preventing exposure for patients and radiation workers. The purpose of this study is seek to compare and validate the trend of attenuation thickness of lead, the primary material in these radiation shielding facilities, at different maximum tube voltages by Monte Carlo simulations and measurement. We employed the Monte Carlo N-Particle 6 simulation code. Within this simulation, we set a lead shielding arrangement, where the distance between the source and the lead sheet was set at 100 cm and the field of view was set at 10 × 10 cm². Additionally, we varied the tube voltages to encompass 80, 100, 120, and 140 kVp. We calculated energy spectra for each respective tube voltage and applied them in the simulations. Lead thicknesses corresponding to attenuation rates of 50, 70, 90, and 95% were determined for tube voltages of 80, 100, 120, and 140 kVp. For 80 kVp, the calculated thicknesses for these attenuation rates were 0.03, 0.08, 0.21, and 0.33 mm, respectively. For 100 kVp, the values were 0.05, 0.12, 0.30, and 0.50 mm. Similarly, for 120 kVp, they were 0.06, 0.14, 0.38, and 0.56 mm. Lastly, at 140 kVp, the corresponding thicknesses were 0.08, 0.16, 0.42, and 0.61 mm. Measurements were conducted to validate the calculated lead thicknesses. The radiation generator employed was the GE Healthcare Discovery XR 656, and the dosimeter used was the IBA MagicMax. The experimental results showed that at 80 kVp, the attenuation rates for different thicknesses were 43.56, 70.33, 89.85, and 93.05%, respectively. Similarly, at 100 kVp, the rates were 52.49, 72.26, 86.31, and 92.17%. For 120 kVp, the attenuation rates were 48.26, 71.18, 87.30, and 91.56%. Lastly, at 140 kVp, they were measured 50.45, 68.75, 89.95, and 91.65%. Upon comparing the simulation and experimental results, it was confirmed that the differences between the two values were within an average of approximately 3%. These research findings serve to validate the reliability of Monte Carlo simulations and could be employed as fundamental data for future radiation shielding facility construction.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.727-736
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• 2022

Ice wedges are subsurface ice mass structures that formed mainly by freezing precipitation with airborne dust and surrounding soil particles flowed through the active layer into the cracks growing by repeating thermal contractions in the deeper permafrost layer over time. These ice masses characteristically contain high concentrations of solutes and solids. Because of their unique properties and distribution, the possibility of harnessing ice wedges as an alternative archive for reconstructing paleoclimate and paleoenvironment has been recently suggested despite limited studies. It is imperative to preserve the physicochemical properties of the ice wedge (e.g., solute concentration, mineral particles) without any potential alteration to use it as a proxy for reconstructing the paleo-information. Thawing the ice wedge samples is prerequisite for the assessment of their physicochemical properties, during which the paleo-information could be unintentionally altered by any methodological artifact. This study examined the effect of thawing conditions and procedures on the physicochemical properties of solutes and solid particles in ice wedge samples collected from Cyuie, East Siberia. Four different thawing conditions with varying temperatures (4 and 23℃) and oxygen exposures (oxic and anoxic) for the ice wedge sample treatment were examined. Ice wedge samples thawed at 4℃ under anoxic conditions, wherein biological activity and oxidation were kept to a minimum, were set as the standard thawing conditions to which the effects of temperature and oxygen were compared. The results indicate that temperature and oxygen exposure have negligible effects on the physicochemical characteristics of the solid particles. However, the chemical features of the solution (e.g., pH, electric conductivity, alkalinity, and concentration of major cations and trace elements) at 4℃ under oxic conditions were considerably altered, compared to those measured under the standard thawing conditions. This study shows that the thawing condition of ice wedge samples can affect their chemical features and thereby the geochemical information therein for the reconstruction of the paleoclimate and/or paleoenvironment.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.566-574
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• 2022

Heavy metals are one of the dangerous pollutants that threaten urban biodiversity due to their accumulation over a long period without being decomposed in vivo. Accordingly, there is a need for biological monitoring to compare accumulation concentrations in living organisms according to the degree of heavy metal exposure to evaluate heavy metal contamination in the air in urban areas. This study aims to examine the possibility of using nesting materials as heavy metal monitoring samples and determine the effects of heavy metals on Paridae. We installed 54 artificial nest boxes in the research areas that included campus green spaces (14), urban forests (11), and urban parks (29) on a university campus in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam Province. The birds' use rate of artificial nest boxes was 11/14 (78.57%) in campus green spaces, 8/11 (72.72%) in urban forests, and 6/29 (20.68%) in urban parks. Moss materials were collected from collected nests, and the heavy metal accumulation characteristics of each type of urban green space and the effects of heavy metals on the success of fledging of Paridae were compared through heavy metal analysis. The analysis showed that the average concentrations of zinc and lead were 228.08±209.62 ㎍/dry g and 17.67 ± 6.72 ㎍/dry g, respectively. There was no significant difference in zinc concentration for each type of urban green space (Kruskal-Wallis test, p-value=0.28), but lead concentration showed a significant difference (Kruskal-Wallis test, p<0.05^*). Of the 21 Paridae, nests analyzed for heavy metals, fledging of birds was observed in 11 nests (52.38%). Fledging of birds observed in each urban green space type was 7 campus green spaces (77.78%), 6 in urban forests (85.71%), and 1 in urban park (20%), mainly in urban forests and green spaces on campus. Heavy metal concentrations were compared to check the effect of heavy metal accumulation on the successful fledging of Paridae, but there was no statistically significant difference (Zn: W=44, p-value=0.74, Pb: t=0.64676, df =7.2422, p-value=0.54). This study is a basic study using the nesting materials of Paridae as heavy metal monitoring samples, and it is determined that it can be used as basic data for non-invasive biological monitoring.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.48-62
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• 2023

As seen in the recent K-pop craze, the size and influence of the Korean music industry is growing even bigger. At least 6,000 songs are released a year in the Korean music market, but not many can be said to have been successful. Many studies and attempts are being made to identify the factors that make the hit music. Commercial factors such as media exposure and promotion as well as the quality of music play an important role in the commercial success of music. Recently, there have been many marketing campaigns using Internet memes in the pop music industry, and Internet memes are activities or trends that spread in various forms, such as images and videos, as cultural units that spread among people. Depending on the Internet environment and the characteristics of digital communication, contents are expanded and reproduced in the form of various memes, which causes a greater response to consumers. Previously, the phenomenon of Internet memes has occurred naturally, but artists who are aware of the marketing effects have recently used it as an element of marketing. In this paper, the mediated effect of Internet memes in relation to the success factors of popular music was analyzed, and a prediction model reflecting them was proposed. As a result of the analysis, the factors with the mediated effect of 'cover effect' and 'challenge effect' were the same. Among the internal success factors, there were mediated effects in "Singer Recognition," the genres of "POP, Dance, Ballad, Trot and Electronica," and among the external success factors, mediated effects in "Planning Company Capacity," "The Number of Music Broadcasting Programs," and "The Number of News Articles." Predictive models reflecting cover effects and challenge effects showed F1-score at 0.6889 and 0.7692, respectively. This study is meaningful in that it has collected and analyzed actual chart data and presented commercial directions that can be used in practice, and found that there are many success factors of popular music and the mediating effects of Internet memes.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.29
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• pp.133-152
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• 2023

This study references preceding studies to examine the history of paint application techniques using various paints in the past, with the aim to contribute to the long-term preservation of large military cultural heritage assets situated outdoors. To this end, the study compared the findings of preceding research with the findings of an analysis conducted on a H-13 helicopter housed at the War Memorial of Korea. Upon collecting and analyzing samples from three grounded WWII aircraft from above-ground by preceding studies, it was confirmed from each sample that the various chemical properties of chrome ensured the effectiveness of the protective coating. The compound was first tested as a corrosion-inhibiting pigment in the early 1940s and proved its excellent moisture-resistant properties over the course of 80 years, despite the deterioration of the paint layer and long-term exposure to the natural environment. For this reason, it has been widely used as a corrosion inhibitor for aluminum alloys in the aviation industry. In other word, the most widely-used material for preventing corrosion was an organic primer containing chromate. In this study, based on the paint analysis of a H-13 helicopter operated in the Korean War, it was shown that the second layer, consisting of the primer, contains chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃). In addition, it was estimated that red lead tetraoxide (Pb₃O₄) was used for the vehicle. Analysis results and data from previous studies can help to confirm the continued effectiveness of corrosion prevention function provided by chromate. Meanwhile, the result of infrared spectroscopy analysis confirmed the use of alkyd resin. In the future, comparisons with a more diverse range of artifacts will allow the identification of changes in the manufacturing technology of paints used to protect alloys from corrosion.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2017

Purpose: To retrospectively compare minimally invasive percutaneous plate osteosynthesis (MIPPO) with open plate fixation for the treatment of clavicle midshaft fracture. Materials and Methods: Between November 2011 to May 2014, 40 cases that were followed for more than 1 year-among all cases of MIPPO and open plate fixation-were analyzed. The study population was divided into two groups: group A included 20 cases of MIPPO and group B included 20 open plate fixation cases. The comparative analysis between the two groups was based on the operative time, bone union, functional evaluation (American Shoulder and Elbow Society score), incision length, pain relief (visual analogue scale, VAS), and complication. Results: The bone union was successful for all the cases, and the functional evaluation scores of the shoulder joint were satisfactory for both groups (p>0.05). The operative time was 47.5 minutes and 58.7 minutes for group A and B, respectively (p<0.05). The incision length for group A was 6.2 cm and that for group B was 10.7 cm with statistical significance (p<0.05). Pain relief (VAS) after surgery for group A showed a quick recuperation in the early stages. For complications, there were 2 cases of dysesthesia and 1 case of malunion due to metal fixation failure in group A. There were 6 cases of dysesthesia and 2 cases of cosmetic problem due to hypertrophic scar in group B. Conclusion: Surgical results of clavicle shaft fracture were satisfactory for both groups, but group A had advantages of shorter operative time, minimal incision length, and better pain relief in the early stages compared with group B. However, we need further evaluations with long-term follow-up results and complications, such as malunion and exposure on radiation.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2017

In this study, we evaluated the toxic effects of heavy metals (As, Cr and Pb) on the population growth rate (r) of the marine diatom, Skeletonema costatum. The r of the species was determined after 96 h (4 days) exposure to As (0, 0.31, 0.63, 1.25, 2.50 and 5.00 mg L^-1), Cr (0, 0.16, 0.31, 0.63, 1.25 and 2.50 mg L^-1) and Pb (0, 1.25, 2.50, 5.00, 10.00 and 20.00 mg L^-1). It was observed that r in the control (absence of As, Cr and Pb) were greater than 0.04, however suddenly decreased with increased heavy metal concentrations. As, Cr and Pb reduced r in a dose-dependent manner and a significant reduction were occurred at concentration of greater than 0.31, 0.31 and 5.00 mg L^-1, respectively. Based on the toxicity, the heavy metal were ranked as Cr>As>Pb, with EC₅₀ (50% effective concentration) values of 0.80, 2.57 and 13.88 mg L^-1, respectively. The lowest-observed-effective-concentration (LOEC) of r in exposed to As, Cr and Pb were 0.63, 0.63 and 10.00 mg L^-1, respectively. Precisely, a concentration of greater than 0.63 mg L^-1 of As, 0.63 mg L^-1 of Cr and 10.00 mg L^-1 of Pb in marine ecosystems induced toxic effect on the r of S. costatum. Based on our results, we suggested that the r of S. costatum might be a useful bio-indicator for the toxicity assessment of heavy metals on the producer in marine ecosystems.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2017

Recently interest in infection control is increasing in hospitalsnfection control has become more important in the overall health care practiceental hospital also requires thorough infection control. There are various kinds of vectormedical clothing. Contaminated clothing of a hospital staff can be a vector of nosocomial infecton. actual case of nosocomial infecton caused by contaminated medical clothing, nursing students were measuring contamination levels of uniforms and pathogenic microorganism wdetected in front of the uniform and pocket. There is also a high risk of exposure to contamination in the dental hospital. We conducted a study to enhance awareness about infection and proper clothing management by comparing before and after contamination of clothing caused by aerosols produced during scaling. Subjects were scaling operators' uniforms in the department of dental hygiene, K University located in Daejeon. Before scaling, the uniform was sterilized by autoclavecaling was performed times in the same place (an average of 60 minutes per person, a total of 180 minutes). ive parts of the uniform (sleeves, chest, belly, thigh, edge of pants) contracted Rodak-plate for 15 seconds. After incubating the contacted Rodak-plate at 37℃ incubator, contamination levels by measuring the number of colonies. As a result, all parts increased number of colonies. ontamination order chestedge of pants thigh belly sleeves. Increase rate of colonies was also high in the order chest edge of pants thigh belly sleeves. This study showed seriousness of clothing contaminationcaused by aerol produced during scalingcontamination of clothing can be a path to nosocomial infecton. According to th study, infection control for clothing as well as dental instruments should be implemented and thorough infection control training needed for dental staff. In further researches, practical infection prevention supplementing clothing management method.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.261-283
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• 2023

This study aimed to review the performance stability of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) fiber reinforcing materials among the synthetic fiber types for which the application of performance reinforcing materials to fiber-reinforced concrete is being reviewed by examining short-term and long-term performance changes. To this end, the residual performance was analyzed after exposing the PET fiber to an acid/alkali environment, and the flexural strength and equivalent flexural strength of the PET fiber-reinforced concrete mixture by age were analyzed, and the surface of the PET fiber collected from the concrete specimen was examined using a scanning microscope (SEM). The changes in were analyzed. As a result of the acid/alkali environment exposure test of PET fiber, the strength retention rate was 83.4~96.4% in acidic environment and 42.4~97.9% in alkaline environment. It was confirmed that the strength retention rate of the fiber itself significantly decreased when exposed to high-temperature strong alkali conditions, and the strength retention rate increased in the finished yarn coated with epoxy. In the test results of the flexural strength and equivalent flexural strength of the PET fiber-reinforced concrete mixture, no reduction in flexural strength was found, and the equivalent flexural strength result also did not show any degradation in performance as a fiber reinforcement. Even in the SEM analysis results, no surface damage or cross-sectional change of the PET reinforcing fibers was observed. These results mean that no damage or cross-section reduction of PET reinforcing fibers occurs in cement concrete environments even when fiber-reinforced concrete is exposed to high temperatures in the early stage or depending on age, and the strength of PET fibers decreases in cement concrete environments. The impact is judged to be of no concern. As the flexural strength and equivalent flexural strength according to age were also stably expressed, it could be seen that performance degradation due to hydrolysis, which is a concern due to the use of PET fiber reinforcing materials, did not occur, and it was confirmed that stable residual strength retention characteristics were exhibited.