• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.183-187
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• 2021

The field size of the lumbar spine X-ray examination, which belongs to the most frequent examination in general radiography, is 5 times wider than the width of the lumbar spine. Exposure index (EI) as per International Electrotechnical Commission has a proportional relationship with the dose incident on the image receptor for clinical protocols in addition to RQA5, which is a calibration beam quality. In this study, the effectiveness of the set field size was evaluated through the change of EI according to the size of field during lumbar spine X-ray examinations. Lumbar anterior-posterior and lateral examinations was performed using a whole-body phantom, and the national average exposure conditions of Korea investigated in 2017 were introduced for the X-ray exposure. As a result of comparing the EI displayed on the console of digital radiography system for the three field size in ① 18 × 36 cm2 ② 25 × 36 cm2 ③ 36 × 36 cm2, the EI values showed a tendency to increase as the field size increased. Since the patient dose, such as organ dose around the lumbar spine, increases as the field size becomes larger, thus, if the EI obtained from the field size at a level that does not interfere with diagnosis is set as a reference, the effectiveness of the field size can be evaluated through the EI displayed on the console when the lumbar spine X-ray examination is conducted.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.105-114
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• 1999

The pattern of traffic streams in residential streets is different from the ordinary roads separated by pedestrian and car lanes. Such fact makes it difficult to evaluate the new counter-measures with existing indices and methods. In this study, a unified, consistent new method is introduced as Time-Space Occupancy (TSO) concept. An application of TSO concept will suggest a TSO exposure volume index which can show the decree of danger in residential streets where vehicles, pedestrian and other traffic streams are interacted. The validity of TSO exposure volume index will be verified through the survey conducted in Seoul and the subjects will be the residents who live at various kinds of residential streets.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.81-85
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• 2018

The photovoltaic modules installed in the actual field are affected by various external environments and the electrical performance output value is generally lowered compared to initial output value. The most of photovoltaic modules consists of low iron glass, encapsulant (EVA), back sheet, frame and junction box assembly based on the solar cells. In this paper, the characteristics of encapsulant which is an important constituent material of photovoltaic module were verified by maximum power determination, electro luminescence images, yellowness index measurement, and gel content measurement after ultraviolet (UV) irradiation exposure. The most commonly installed 72 cells crystalline photovoltaic modules were tested after various UV exposure of 0, 15, 30, and $60kWh/m^2$ and compared with the reference module. After UV exposure of $15kWh/m^2$, which is the current international test condition, a small amount of change was observed in yellowness index and electroluminescence, while a gell content rapidly increased. At a cumulative dose of $60kWh/m^2$, which will be a new international test condition in the near future, however, the yellowness index increased sharply and showed the greatest output power drop.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.176-177
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• 2005

• Toxicological Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.269-277
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to understand the mechanism of cardiovascular disease (CVD) caused by exposure to hazardous chemicals. We investigated changes in the symptoms of metabolic syndrome, which is strongly related to CVD, and in levels of other CVD risk factors, with a special emphasis on the roles of catecholamines and oxidative stress. The results revealed that neither body mass index (BMI) nor waist and hip circumferences were associated with exposure to hazardous chemicals. Among metabolic syndrome criteria, only HDL-cholesterol level increased on exposure to hazardous chemicals. Levels of epinephrine (EP) and norepinephrine (NEP) were not influenced by exposure to hazardous chemicals; however, the total antioxidative capacity (TAC) reduced because of increased oxidative stress. Both hazardous chemical exposure level and metabolite excretion were related to EP, NEP, and the oxidative stress index (OSI). Logistic regression analysis with these factors as independent variables and metabolic syndrome criteria as dependent variables revealed that EP was associated with blood pressure, and NEP with metabolic syndrome in the chemical-exposed group. In conclusion, the results suggest that reactive oxygen species generated and oxidative stress due to exposure to hazardous chemicals act as mediators and cause changes in the physiological levels of EP and NEP to increase blood pressure. This ultimately leads to the development of CVD through increase in cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood glucose levels by lipid peroxidation.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.587-601
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• 2020

Exposure to hazardous substances occurs through multiple pathways. Aggregated risk assessment, which includes all potential exposure pathways to a single toxicant, is necessary to prevent exposure to harmful substances. We aimed to estimate cadmium and lead exposure through various media, such as food, water, air, smoking, cosmetics, and female hygiene products. This study covered 10,733 subjects from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(2016, 2017). Dietary exposure was estimated using 24-hour recall data. For water and inhalational exposure, regional variations were considered. Water was classified as tap, bottled, and public water. Inhalational exposure was estimated using the '2014 Time Use Survey' based on daily lifestyle and social status. The frequency and volume of cosmetic usage were randomly approximated by sex and age. Post-menarcheal and premenopausal women were assumed to use feminine hygiene products. Non-carcinogenic aggregated risks were estimated using the Aggregate Risk Index from EPAs and the Total Exposure Hazard Index from Korean government guidelines. For carcinogenic risk assessment, excessive cancer risk was estimated. Ingestion, especially food, was the major route for both cadmium and lead exposure. Smoking was also associated with high cadmium exposure. Exposure to lead from cosmetics was remarkable but not critical. In aggregate risk assessments, median cadmium and lead exposure did not exceed the reference value. Sex, age, smoking status, and income affected exposure levels, unlike to regional variations.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.79-94
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• 2016

In order to evaluate the contamination and health risk, levels of six hazardous elements i.e., Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Cd and Pb in soils of 12 different land-uses were measured. The average concentration of Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, As and Cd in soils were 267, 239, 206, 195, 58 and 16 mg/kg, respectively. Levels of each metal exceeded the environmental action level for soils, which could pose significant risk to human. The metal concentrations were subsequently used to establish hazard indices (for adults and children) where the 5th and 95th percentile values were used to derive the hazard index through different exposure pathways (ingestion, dermal contact and inhalation). Considering the total exposure through each of the three pathways, the hazard index elucidates that there was a potency of non-cancer risk at most of the sites for both the adults and children. The findings of this study suggested that different land-use soils were severely contaminated with hazardous elements and attention is needed on the potential health risks to the exposed inhabitants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.139-145
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• 2021

This study is to confirm the range of tube voltage for Chest X-ray in DR system by comparing with dose area product (DAP) and effective dose in efficient detector exposure index (DEI) range. GE definium 8000 was used to for the phantom study. The range of tube voltage is 60~130 kVp and of mAs is 2.5~40 mAs. The acquired images were classified into efficient DEI groups, then calculated effective dose with DAP by using a PC-Based Monte Carlo Program 2.0. The signal to noise ratio (SNR) was measured at 4 regions, including the thoracic spine, the lung area with the ribs, the lung area without the ribs, and the liver by using Picture Archiving and Communication System. The significance of the group for each tube voltage was verified by performing the kruskal-wallis test and the mann-whitney test as a post-test. When set to 4 groups dependned on the tube voltage, DAP showed significant differences; 60 kVp and 80 kVp, and 60 kVp and 90 kVp (p= 0.034, 0.021). Effective dose exhibited no statistically significant differences from the all of the group (p>0.05). SNR exhibited statistically significant differences from the all of the group in the liver except compared to 80 kVp and 90 kVp (p<0.05). Therefore, high tube voltages of 100 kVp or more need to be reconsidered in terms of patient dose and imaging in order to represent an appropriate chest X-ray image in a digital system.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.493-499
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• 2022

Background: The purpose of this study is to construct a job-exposure matrix for lead that accounts for industry and work processes within industries using a nationwide exposure database. Methods: We used the work environment measurement data (WEMD) of lead monitored nationwide from 2015 to 2016. Industrial hygienists standardized the work process codes in the database to 37 standard process and extracted key index words for each process. A total of 37 standardized process codes were allocated to each measurement based on an automated key word search based on the degree of agreement between the measurement information and the standard process index. Summary statistics, including the arithmetic mean, geometric mean, and 95th percentile level (X95), was calculated according to industry, process, and industry process. Using statistical parameters of contrast and precision, we compared the similarity of exposure groups by industry, process, and industry process. Results: The exposure intensity of lead was estimated for 583 exposure groups combined with 128 industry and 35 process. The X95 value of the "casting" process of the "manufacture of basic precious and non-ferrous metals" industry was 53.29 ㎍/m³, exceeding the occupational exposure limit of 50 ㎍/m³. Regardless of the limitation of the minimum number of samples in the exposure group, higher contrast was observed when the exposure groups were by industry process than by industry or process. Conclusion: We evaluated the exposure intensities of lead by combination of industry and process. The results will be helpful in determining more accurate information regarding exposure in lead-related epidemiological studies.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.195-202
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• 2007

The normalized difference in incident solar energy between a target surface and a level surface (overheating index, OHI) is useful in eliminating estimation error of site-specific maximum temperature in complex terrain. Due to the complexity in its calculation, however, an empirical proxy variable called northern exposure index (NEI) which combines slope and aspect has been used to estimate OHI based on empirical relationships between the two. An experiment with real-world landscape and temperature data was carried out to evaluate performance of the NEI - derived OHI (N-OHI) in reduction of spatial interpolation error for daily maximum temperature compared with that by the original OHI. We collected daily maximum temperature data from 7 sites in a mountainous watershed with a $149 km^2$ area and a 795m elevation range ($651{\sim}1,445m$) in Pyongchang, Kangwon province. Northern exposure index was calculated for the entire 166,050 grid cells constituting the watershed based on a 30-m digital elevation model. Daily OHI was calculated for the same watershed ana regressed to the variation of NEI. The regression equations were used to estimate N-OHI for 15th of each month. Deviations in daily maximum temperature at 7 sites from those measured at the nearby synoptic station were calculated from June 2006 to February 2007 and regressed to the N-OHI. The same procedure was repeated with the original OHI values. The ratio sum of square errors contributable by the N-OHI were 0.46 (winter), 0.24 (fall), and 0.01 (summer), while those by the original OHI were 0.52, 0.37 and 0.15, respectively.