• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.178-186
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• 2020

Background: Cognitive impairment is a public health burden. Our objective was to investigate associations between work hours and cognitive function. Methods: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants (n = 2,497; 50.7% men; age range 44-84 years) reported hours per week worked in all jobs in Exams 1 (2000-2002), 2 (2002-2004), 3 (2004-2005), and 5 (2010-2011). Cognitive function was assessed (Exam 5) using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (version 2), a measure of global cognitive functioning; the Digit Symbol Coding, a measure of processing speed; and the Digit Span test, a measure of attention and working memory. We used a prospective approach and linear regression to assess associations for every 10 hours of work. Results: Among all participants, associations of hours worked with cognitive function of any type were not statistically significant. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.051), longer work hours were associated with poorer global cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers, after adjustment for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, race/ethnicity, educational level, annual income, history of heart attack, diabetes, apolipoprotein E-epsilon 4 allele (ApoE4) status, birth-place, number of years in the United States, language spoken at MESA Exam 1, and work hours at Exam 5 (β = -0.55, 95% CI = -0.99, -0.09) and (β = -0.80, -1.51, -0.09), respectively. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.040), we also observed an inverse association with processing speed among blue-collar workers (adjusted β = -0.80, -1.52, -0.07). Sex, race/ethnicity, and ApoE4 did not significantly modify associations between work hours and cognitive function. Conclusion: Weak inverse associations were observed between work hours and cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.287-291
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• 2005

The development of agricultural technology makes the increasement of pesticide usage. The results of pesticide usage were the increment of agricultural outcomes, but the health hazard was increasing also. Especially, alpine agriculture needs more pesticide than general agriculture and they suffered from more pesticide induced health symptoms. There were no study about the pesticide usage and subjective health status. So, this study was performed to investigate the relationship between pesticide usage and health status. The health status was measured by SF-12. SF-12 was well known health status measurement tool. SF-12 have two components, which were mental component score and physical component score. As a results of analysis, the alpine agricultural workers had higher pesticide exposure index and acute symptom score. As the results of multivariate analysis, physical component score was affected by pesticide exposure, but mental component score was not. Although, this study has many limitations, the result of this study can suggest the need of political advise and the further study.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.239-245
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• 2010

There are 11,811 LWR spent fuels stored at reactor sites, as of 2009. Source terms based on reference spent fuel which represents entire spent fuels with bounding values in the aspect of source term has been applied to a design of nuclear installations, instead of those which are generated by weighting respective source term for each spent fuel. Simplified regression models to estimate total decay heat, radioactivity, and ingestion hazard index for spent fuel from Westinghouse-type reactors were developed in this study, because it can be used as a fundamental model for weighting source term for respective spent fuel to exclude conservativeness in source terms. It was found that the estimated source terms agreed with calculated value from ORIGEN-ARP within 5%. It was also found that the conservativeness could be excluded if the weight source terms were used as reference source term in the design. Therefore, it is expected that the developed regression model could be widely used in the conceptual design process of nuclear facilities related with storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.459-468
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• 2000

Objectives : To investigate the association between BMI and Mortality. Methods : This study was based on the analysis and assembly of the 'Kangwha Cohort Study', previously conducted by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University. A total of 2,696 males and 3,595 females were followed for almost ten years and ten months from March 1985 to January 1996, a total of whom 2,420 died during this period. The Cox's proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze this data. Results : We found a U-shaped relationship between BMI and mortality among the aged men in the Kangwha cohort. The hazard ratio of dying was adjusted for age, marital status, occupation, self cognitive health level, chronic disease, smoking, and alcohol frequency, then sorted by body mass index into the following groups; less than 10.5, 18.5 to less than 21.0, 21.0 to less than 23.5, 23.5 to less than 26.0 and greater than or equal to 26. The corresponding ratios for men were 1.81(1.50-2.19, 95%CI), 1.31(1.14-1.51, 95%CI), 1.0(referent), 1.05(0.87-1.26, 95%CI) and 1.39(1.09-1.76, 95%CI), respectively. And for women, 1.46(1.19-1.78), 1.12(0.95-1.31, 95%CI), 1.0(referent), 1.00(0.84-1.20, 95%CI) and 1.09(0.89-1.34, 95%CI), respectively. Conclusions : The risk of death among aged men in Kangwha increased in the under and overweight groups. The relationship between BMl and mortality has been well studied in Western populations, but little is known about the association between BMI and mortality in our country. So, on the basis of this study, it is apparent that more studies of the relationship between BMI and mortality will be needed for future work.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.137-145
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• 2002

Tributyltin compounds have been increasingly used in the form of plastic stabilizers, catalytic agents, industrial agricultural biocides, antifouling paint, and pesticides. Among these organotin compounds, large amounts of tributyltin(TBT) and triphenyltin(TPT) have been used as antifouling agents because they have a superior ability to prevent marine organism from being encrusted on ship bottoms and in culturing nets. Environmental pollution by these organotin compounds in the aquatic environment were undertaken. The international maritime Organization's established a provisional tolerable daily intake(TDI) of 1.6[micro]g TBTO/kg/ B.W. The Food and Agiculture Organization (of the United Nations)/world Health Organization's (FAO/WHO) proposed a TDI of 0.5ug TPT/kg BW/d. This study is conducted monitoring of TBT on seafoods in Korea and risk assessment for exposure on TBT in seafoods. Total hazard index(using Reference Dose : 0.3 ug TBTO/kg B.W/day) of intake exposure on seafoods is 0.04 as the 50th percentile, 0.08 as the 95th percentile. This value is estimated by Monte-Carlo simulation using Crystal Ball(Decisioneering Co., 2001).

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.51
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• pp.325.1-325.10
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• 2018

Background: To evaluate survival outcomes and prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) who received sunitinib (SU) and pazopanib (PZ) as first-line therapy in real-world Korean clinical practice. Methods: Data of 554 patients with mRCC who received SU or PZ at eight institutions between 2012 and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Based on the targeted therapy, the patients were divided into SU (n = 293) or PZ (n = 261) groups, and the clinicopathological variables and survival rates of the two groups were compared. A multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine the prognostic factors for OS. Results: The median follow-up was 16.4 months (interquartile range, 8.3-31.3). Patients in the PZ group were older, and no significant difference was observed in the performance status (PS) between the two groups. In the SU group, the dose reduction rate was higher and the incidence of grade 3 toxicity was more frequent. The objective response rates were comparable between the two groups (SU, 32.1% vs. PZ, 36.4%). OS did not differ significantly between the two groups (SU, 36.5 months vs. PZ, 40.2 months; log-rank, P = 0.955). Body mass index, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group PS > 2, synchronous metastasis, poor Heng risk criteria, and liver and bone metastases were associated with a shorter OS. Conclusion: Our real-world data of Korean patients with mRCC suggested that SU and PZ had similar efficacies as first-line therapy for mRCC. However, PZ was better tolerated than SU in Korean patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.82 no.2
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• pp.118-125
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• 2019

Background: Lung cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the incidence continues to rise. Although many prognostic factors have been identified, the clinical characteristics and outcomes in Korean lung cancer patients are not well defined. Methods: Of the 23,254 new lung cancer cases registered at the Korea Central Cancer Registry in 2013, total 489 patients from 19 hospitals were abstracted by the Korean Central Cancer Registry. The clinical data retrospectively analyzed, patients were followed up until December 2015. Results: The median age was 69 years (interquartile range, 60-74 years); 65.4% were male and 62.1% were ever-smokers. Cough was the most common initial symptom (33.5%); 13.1% of patients were asymptomatic. While squamous cell carcinoma was the most common subtype in male patients (37.2%), adenocarcinoma was the most frequent histological type in all patients (48.7%) and females (76.3%). The majority of patients received treatment (76.5%), which included surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Older age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.037), lower body mass index (HR, 0.904), ever-smoker (HR, 2.003), small cell lung cancer (HR, 1.627), and distant metastasis (HR, 3.990) were independent predictors of mortality. Patients without symptoms (HR, 0.387) and without treatment (HR, 0.364) were associated with a favorable outcome in multivariate Cox analysis. Conclusion: Lung cancer in Korea occurs predominantly in elderly patients, with adenocarcinoma being the most frequent subtype. The prognosis was poorer in ever-smokers and older, malnourished, and untreated patients with advanced lung cancer.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.206-217
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• 2021

Purpose: Recently, a series of large social disasters have led to a lot of research to prevent social disasters as well as natural disasters and reduce damage. However, this paper aims to select the types of social disasters that local governments should focus on and create basic data for effective countermeasures and mitigation efforts. Method: Among 43 types of disasters announced by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, 11 types of disasters were selected and collected to select the main types of disasters, and risk types were derived by region with risk maps. In order to derive the risk map, each detailed index was rescheduled to be 0-1 and weights were determined through entropy technique. Result: As a result, about 41% of the major disasters announced by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security were consistent, and the rest of the major types were disasters that could not be obtained or have not occurred in the past 20 years. Conclusion: Therefore, in order to establish an effective prevention and recovery plan for social disasters through this study, it was intended to present social disaster-focused disasters for each local government.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.49-60
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• 2021

Objectives: Laboratories have various latent physical, chemical, biological, and ergonomical factors according to the diversification and fusion of research and development activities. This study aims to investigate the chemical exposure concentrations of college laboratories and evaluate their health risks, and use them as basic data to promote the health of college students. Methods: The sampling and analysis of harmful chemicals in the air in laboratories were performed using Method 1500 of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)의 Method 1500. The harmful chemicals in the laboratories were divided into carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic chemicals. Risk assessment was performed using the cancer risk (CR) for carcinogenic chemicals and using the hazard index (HI) for non-carcinogenic chemicals. Results: The harmful chemicals in college laboratories consisted of acetone, diethyl ether, methylene chloride, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, and xylenes. They showed the highest concentrations in laboratories A (acetone 0.001~2.34ppm), B (chloroform 0.95~6.35ppm), C (diethyl ether 0.08~8.68ppm), and D (acetone 0.07~14.96ppm). The risk assessment result for non-carcinogenic chemicals showed that the HI of methylene chloride was 2.052 for men and 2.333 for women, the HI of N-hexane was 4.442 for men and 5.05 for women. Thus, the HI values were higher than 1. The risk of carcinogenic chemicals is determined by an excess cancer risk (ECR) value of 1.0×10^-5, which means that one in 100,000 people has a cancer risk. The ECRs of chloroform exceeded 1.0×10^-5 for both men and women, indicating the possibility of cancer risk. Conclusion: College laboratories showed the possibility of non-carcinogenic health risks for methylene chloride, n-hexane, tetrahydrofuran (THF), toluene, and xylenes, and carcinogenic health risks for chloroform, methylene chloride. However, this study used the maximum values of measurements to determine the worst case, and assumed that the subjects were exposed to the corresponding concentrations continuously for 8 hours per day for 300 days per year. In consideration of the nature of laboratory environment in which people are intermittently exposed, rather than continuously, to the chemicals, the results of this study has an element of overestimation.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to determine residual characteristics of soil-treated metalaxyl-M and dinotefuran in crown daisy and to evaluate the risks from intake of the residual pesticides in the crop. METHODS AND RESULTS: The pesticide granules were treated in soil on two levels, and the plants samples were collected 51 days after seeding. The analytes were extracted and partitioned using the QuEChERS extraction packet (MgSO₄ 4 g, NaCl 1 g). The quantitative methods for metalaxyl-M and dinotefuran were validated in linearity, accuracy, and precision. Risk assessments of the pesticides were performed using Korea national nutrition statistics 2019. CONCLUSION(S): The residual concentrations of metalaxyl-M in crown daisy were 0.09-0.10 mg/kg (for the treatment at 6 kg/10 a) and 0.17-0.19 mg/kg (12 kg/10 a), respectively. The residual concentrations of dinotefuran in the crop were 0.53-0.75 mg/kg (3 kg/10 a) and 1.17-1.26 mg/kg (6 kg/10 a). The amounts of pesticides were less than MRL (Maximum Residue Limits) according to the Korean MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety). The HI (Hazard Index) of metalaxyl-M and dinotefuran for consumers was 0.0075% and 0.2250%, respectively. For females in the age between 50-64, the major consumer group, the HIs of the pesticides were <3%. Considering the consumption of crown daisy, they are not considered to be of toxicological concern.