• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.37-42
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• 2023

This study aimed to examine the safety of HemoHIM, a dietary supplement containing methoxsalen. HemoHIM is a dietary supplement marketed globally, and a competitor to ginseng. It has been reported to contain methoxsalen, a plant extract for treating psoriasis and vitiligo. Methoxsalen is known to cause hepatotoxicity, but most of the cases has been reported from ingestion as a drug, not a food. There are no reports of hepatotoxicity from the consumption derived from natural products such as Angelica gigas, Cnidium officinale, and Paeonia lactiflora, which are the main ingredients in the HemoHIM. However, a recent case of acute hepatitis was reported in Hong-Kong after ingestion of HemoHIM. It is difficult to conclude that hepatitis was caused by HemoHIM, because there was no check of co-occurring medications with a higher risk of hepatotoxicity, no description of the progress, no quantitative comparison of methoxsalen in HemoHIM to it in common foods such as carrots and celery, and no description of the patient's underlying diseases. On the other hand, there was a study that suggest hemoHIM is safe, and that study had adequate number of subjects even though more studies are needed to ensure safety.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.41-53
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• 2023

E171, a mixture of titanium dioxide, has been widely used as a food additive due to its whitening effect and low toxicity. However, it has been proven that E171 is no longer safe for public health. So far, there are insufficient studies on the toxic effects of E171 on organisms especially using standardized test methods. In this study, toxicity assessments of E171 to two aquatic species, water flea (Daphnia magna) and zebrafish (Danio rerio), were performed using modified standardized test methods based on the physicochemical properties of E171. The hydrodynamic diameter, polydispersity index, and turbiscan stability index (TSI) were measured to ensure the dispersion stability of E171 in exposure media during the test period. The EC₅₀ for immobilization of water flea was 141.7 mg L^-1 while zebrafish was not affected until 100 mg L^-1 of E171. Measurements of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant enzyme activities confirmed that E171 induced oxidative stress, leading to the activation of superoxide dismutase and catalase in both water flea and zebrafish, although the expression of antioxidant enzyme genes differed between species. These results suggested the potential risk of E171 to aquatic organisms and provided toxicological insights into the impacts of E171 on the environment.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2023

Recently, research on predicting the treatment results of diseases using deep learning technology is also active in the medical community. However, small patient data and specific deep learning algorithms were selected and utilized, and research was conducted to show meaningful results under specific conditions. In this study, in order to generalize the research results, patients were further expanded and subdivided to derive the results of a study predicting mortality after lung cancer diagnosis for men and women in their 80s, 90s, and 100s. Using AutoML, which provides large-scale medical information and various deep learning algorithms from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, five algorithms such as Decision Tree, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, XGBoost, and Logistic Registration were created to predict mortality rates for 84 months after lung cancer diagnosis. As a result of the study, men in their 80s and 90s had a higher mortality prediction rate than women, and women in their 100s had a higher mortality prediction rate than men. And the factor that has the greatest influence on the mortality rate was analyzed as the treatment period.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.76-83
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• 2022

We attempted to estimate potential habitats of Clithon retropictus and to determine the community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates by presence of C. retropictus. 2016 to 2018 database of "Survey and Assessment of Estuary Ecosystem Health" by the Ministry of Environment were used to identify the distribution site of C. retropictus. The occupancy model was applied to estimate the potential habitat of C. retropictus. Four diversity indices were used to confirm the community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates. C. retropictus was found in the southern coast area and part of the east coast, and this pattern was consistent with previous studies. Additionally, the occupancy model predicted that a potential habitat of C. retropictus could appear in the west coast area. The community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates was relatively high at the site with C. retropictus than the site without C. retropictus. Therefore, the occupancy model can be considered when conserving C. retropictus inhabiting a limited area. Additionally, C. retropictus can be used to the indicator species that can represent the brackish water environment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1460-1467
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• 2023

A robust approach was conducted to determining the absolute oral bioavailable (f_ab) fractions of ²³⁸U and ²³²Th in rats exposed to contaminated soil along with their hematotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. The soil sample is the International Atomic Energy Agency-312 (IAEA-312) certified reference material, whereas blood, bones, and kidneys of in vivo female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats estimate ²³⁸U- and ²³²Th-f_ab fractions post-exposure. We predict the bioavailable concentration (C_ab) and f_ab values of ²³⁸U and ²³²Th after acute soil ingestion. The blood ²³⁸U (0.750%) and ²³²Th (0.028%) reach their maximum f_ab values after 48 h. The ²³⁸U (f_ab: 0.169-0.652%) accumulates mostly in the kidney, whereas the ²³²Th (f_ab: 0.004-0.021%) accumulates primarily in the bone. Additionally, ²³⁸U is more bioavailable than ²³²Th. Post 48 h acute ingestion demonstrates noticeable histopathological and hematological alterations, implying that intake of ²³⁸U in co-contaminated soil can lead to erythrocytes and proximal tubules damage, whereas, ²³²Th intake can harm erythrocytes. Our study provides new directions for future research into the health implications of acute oral exposures to ²³⁸U and ²³²Th in co-contaminated soils. The findings offer significant insight into the utilization of in vivo SD rat testing to estimate ²³⁸U and ²³²Th bioavailability and toxicity in exposure assessment.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.490-497
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• 2023

Pregnant women may need to take medications to treat preexisting diseases or diseases that develop during pregnancy. However, some drugs may be fetotoxic and lead to, for example, teratogenicity and growth retardation. Predicting the fetotoxicity of drugs is thus important for the health of the mother and fetus. The fetotoxicity of many drugs has not been established because various challenges hinder the ability of researchers to determine their fetotoxicity. The need exists for in silico-based fetotoxicity assessment models, as they can modernize the testing paradigm, improve predictability, and reduce the use of animals and the costs of fetotoxicity testing. In this study, we collected data on the fetotoxicity of drugs and constructed fetotoxicity prediction models based on various machine learning algorithms. We optimized the models for more precise predictions by tuning the hyperparameters. We then performed quantitative performance evaluations. The results indicated that the constructed machine learning-based models had high performance (AUROC >0.85, AUPR >0.9) in fetotoxicity prediction. We also analyzed the feature importance of our model's predictions, which could be leveraged to identify the specific features of drugs that are strongly associated with fetotoxicity. The proposed model can be used to prescreen drugs and drug candidates at a lower cost and in less time. It provides a predictive score for fetotoxicity risk, which may be beneficial in the design of studies on fetotoxicity in human pregnancy.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2021.06a
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• pp.448-448
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• 2021

최근 급격한 기후변화와 도시화 및 산업화로 인한 지류하천에서의 수량과 수질의 변동은 생물 다양성 감소와 수생태계 건강성 저하에 큰 영향을 미치고 있다. 효율적인 수생태 관리를 위해서는 지속적인 유량, 수질, 그리고 수생태 모니터링을 통한 데이터 축적과 더불어 면밀한 상관 분석을 통해 수생태계 건강성의 악화 원인을 규명해야 할 필요가 있다. 그러나 수많은 지류하천을 대상으로 한 지속적인 모니터링은 현실적으로 어려움이 있으며, 수생태계의 특성 상 단일 영향 인자만으로 수생태계의 건강성 변화와의 관계를 정확히 파악하는데 한계가 있다. 따라서 지류하천에서의 유량 및 수질의 시공간적인 변동성과 다양한 영향 인자를 고려하여 수생태계의 건강성을 효율적으로 예측할 수 있는 기술이 필요하다. 이에 본 연구에서는 경험적 데이터 기반의 머신러닝 모델 구축을 통해 미계측 하천에서의 수생태계 건강성 지수(BMI, TDI, FAI)의 등급(A to E)을 예측하고자 하였다. 머신러닝 모델은 학습 데이터셋의 양과 질에 따라 성능이 크게 달라질 수 있으며, 학습 데이터셋의 분포가 불균형적일 경우 과적합 또는 과소적합 문제가 발생할 수 있다. 이를 보완하고자 본 연구에서는 실제 측정망 데이터셋을 바탕으로 생성적 적대 신경망 GAN(Generative Adversarial Network) 알고리즘을 통해 머신러닝 모델 학습에 필요한 추가 데이터셋(유량, 수질, 기상, 수생태 등급)을 확보하였다. 머신러닝 모델의 성능은 5차 교차검증 과정을 통해 평가하였으며, GAN 데이터셋의 정확도는 실제 측정망 데이터셋의 정규분포와의 비교 분석을 통해 평가하였다. 최종적으로 SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool) 모형을 통해 예측 된 미계측 하천에서의 데이터셋을 머신러닝 모델의 검증 자료로 사용하여 수생태계 건강성 등급 예측 정확도를 평가하였다. 본 연구에서의 GAN에 의해 강화된 머신러닝 모델은 수질 및 수생태 관리가 필요한 우심 지류하천 선정과 구조적/비구조적 최적관리기법에 따른 수생태계 건강성 개선 효과를 평가하는데 활용될 수 있을 것이다. 또한 이를 통해 예측된 미계측 하천에서의 수생태계 건강성 등급 자료는 수량-수질-수생태를 유기적으로 연계한 통합 물관리 정책을 수립하는데 기초자료로 활용될 수 있을 것이라 사료된다.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.133-141
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• 2023

Background: The present study evaluated the association between participation in a rehabilitation program during a hospital stay and 1-year survival of patients requiring at least 21 days of mechanical ventilation (prolonged mechanical ventilation [PMV]) with various respiratory diseases as their main diagnoses that led to mechanical ventilation. Methods: Retrospective data of 105 patients (71.4% male, mean age 70.1±11.3 years) who received PMV in the past 5 years were analyzed. Rehabilitation included physiotherapy, physical rehabilitation, and dysphagia treatment program that was individually provided by physiatrists. Results: The main diagnosis leading to mechanical ventilation was pneumonia (n=101, 96.2%) and the 1-year survival rate was 33.3% (n=35). One-year survivors had lower Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score (20.2±5.8 vs. 24.2±7.5, p=0.006) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (6.7±5.6 vs. 8.5±2.7, p=0.001) on the day of intubation than non-survivors. More survivors participated in a rehabilitation program during their hospital stays (88.6% vs. 57.1%, p=0.001). The rehabilitation program was an independent factor for 1-year survival based on the Cox proportional hazard model (hazard ratio, 3.513; 95% confidence interval, 1.785 to 6.930; p<0.001) in patients with APACHE II scores ≤23 (a cutoff value based on Youden's index). Conclusion: Our study showed that participation in a rehabilitation program during hospital stay was associated with an improvement of 1-year survival of PMV patients who had less severe illness on the day of intubation.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.259-268
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to verify the effectiveness of mental simulation practice training using standardized patients for nursing students. This study is a single-group pre- and post-design study, and for data collection, a structured questionnaire was provided to 95 nursing students from a university located in J. The collected data was analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 27.0 program. Results of the study The mental simulation practice training program using standardized patients improved the subject's learning motivation (t=-2.011, p=.046), learning self-efficacy (t=-2.225, p=.027), and learning satisfaction (t=-). 3.428, p=.001) and transfer motivation (t=-2.628, p=.009). In addition, as a result of analyzing the self-assessment contents by text mining, words related to mental simulation practice education using standardized patients included situation, experience, acting, communication, scenario, and mental nursing clinical practice, and words related to satisfaction were actual, There was help, response, understanding, variety, etc. As a result of this study, an environment similar to the actual situation was implemented, and the mental simulation training program applying various cases was found to be effective in practical education of nursing students, so it is necessary to actively utilize it to improve the ability to adapt to the field in the future.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.443-458
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• 2008

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are chemical compounds that inhibit the combustion of organic materials by scavenging free radicals that would otherwise encourage the spread of flames. These compounds are found in a wide variety of materials including paints, plastics, textiles, furniture and electronics. Mounting evidence, however, suggests that the non-reactive BFRs can easily leach into the environment and pose significant environmental and health concerns. PBDDs/PBDFs are often formed in the process of manufacturing brominated flame retardants and from the combustion of waste products containing flame retardants BFR. Therefore, this paper describes the general characteristics, management status, residual concentration in environments and analytical method.