• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.152-168
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• 2019

The element arsenic, which is abundant in the Earth's crust, is used for various industrial purposes including materials for disease treatment and household goods. Various human activities, such as the disposal of soil waste, metal mining and smelting, and combustion of fossil fuels, have caused the pollution of the environment with arsenic. Recently, guidelines for arsenic in rice have been adopted by the Korean ministry of food and drug safety to prevent health risks based on rice consumption. Because of the exposure to arsenic and its accumulation in the human body through various channels, such as air inhalation, skin contact, ingestion of drinking water, and food consumption, integrated multimedia risk assessment is required to adopt appropriate risk management policies. Therefore, integrated human health risk assessment was carried out in this study using integrated exposure assessment based on multimedia (e.g., air, water, and soil) and multi-route (e.g., oral, inhalation, and dermal) scenarios. The results show that oral uptake via drinking water is the most common pathway of arsenic into the human body, accounting for 57%-96% of the total arsenic exposure. Among various age groups, the highest exposures to arsenic were observed in infants because the body weight of infants is low and the surface areas of infant bodies are large. Based on the results of the exposure assessment, the cancer and non-cancer risks were calculated. The cancer risk for CTE and RME is in the range of 2.3E-05 to 6.7E-05 and thus is negligible because it does not exceed the cancer probability of 1.0E-04 for all age groups. On the other hand, the cancer risk for RME varies from 6.4E-05 to 1.8E-04 and from 1.3E-04 to 1.8E-04 for infants and preschool children, exceeding the excess cancer risk of 1.0E-04. The non-cancer risks range from 5.4E-02 to 1.9E-01 and from 1.5E-01 to 6.8E-01, respectively. They do not exceed the hazard index 1 for all scenarios and all ages.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.360-372
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• 2023

The aim of this study was to identify the current state of pediatric dentists, evaluate the adequacy of pediatric dentist supply and demand, and find out the perception of all pediatric dentists on the current state of pediatric dentists and policy establishment. An Online survey was conducted among pediatric dentists. The questionnaire was subdivided into 'general characteristics', 'number of dental treatments and working days per year', 'proportion of covered services', 'perceptions of supply and demand of pediatric dentists'. Through the Korean Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Services, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), and the Korean Statistical Information Service, the current state of pediatric dentists, the number of claims for covered services, and the decrease in births per year were investigated. Dental clinics claiming to be pediatric dentistry reached half of all medical institutions, but only 3.78% of pediatric dentists actually worked. 61.36% of all pediatric dentists were concentrated in the metropolitan area, showing a national imbalance. Although the population of children and adolescents have continuously decreased over the past 20 years, the number of NHIS-covered services has shown a continuous increase. Over the past 10 years, the optimal supply of pediatric dentists has been maintained at around 4,000. According to the analysis, 92.15% of pediatric dentists thought that it was necessary to prepare policies and support measures at the government level. This study is expected to be used as basic data for establishing a demand estimation method for pediatric dentistry specialists in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.183-198
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of clinical nutrition services provided at tertiary hospitals and general hospitals in Korea. In total, 157 questionnaires were distributed to the departments of nutrition at hospitals on September 2013. The results of this study are as follows. The median number of beds was 607 and average length of stay was 8 days. 63.1% of dietitians had over 5 years of career experience. Nutritional screening rate was 97% in tertiary hospitals but only 67.2% in general hospitals (P<0.001). The rate of equipment with computerized nutritional screening system was 100% in tertiary hospitals but 71.9% in general hospitals (P<0.001). Hospitals with the best regarding nutritional care were hospitals accredited by JCI (Joint Commission International). On the other hand, hospitals not accredited by the JCI but KOIHA (Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation) showed the lowest performance rate of nutritional care. Nutrition support teams (NSTs) were established in all tertiary hospitals but in only 73% of general hospitals (P<0.001). The rate of actively operating NSTs was 89% in tertiary hospitals but only 62% in general hospitals (P<0.001). There is a need to provide proper standardized clinical nutrition services as a primary treatment and we observed large variations in the quality of nutritional service between hospitals. Therefore, local solutions are needed to implement nutritional programs and policies for improved service and care.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.260-273
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• 2010

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of married Korean women regarding marriage and childbirth, and their awareness of childbirth-related issues such as low birth rates, sex preferences and sex imbalances in Korea. Methods: A total of 453 married women aged 20 or older were randomly selected from four urban districts and five rural districts out of 25 districts in Gyeongju, a consolidated city located in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, South Korea. The survey was conducted from December 2005 to February 2006. A total of 392 out of 453 questionnaires(86.5% response rate) were collected, and 44 incomplete questionnaires were excluded, leaving 348 completed questionnaires to be used for data analysis. Age was divided into three groups as below 49, 50-69, 70 or older. Results: Women's perceptions of marriage were associated with age(p<0.01). Perceptions about childbirth were also significantly related to age(p<0.01), type of residential area (p<0.01) and education level(p<0.05). Sex preferences were significantly related to age(p<0.05) and occupation(p<0.01). Of the respondents aged 49 or younger, 34.8% indicated that the ideal number of children is two, while 25.5% of respondents aged 50 to 69 and 15.3% of respondents aged 70 and 33.7% of respondents aged 70 or older considered four children to be the ideal number. Perceptions of sex imbalance were significantly related to socioeconomic status(p<0.01) and occupation(p<0.01). The largest number of respondents cited "economic burden" as the main reason for low birth rates. Multiple logistic regressions were performed for all three age groups using male sex preference as the dependent variable under the assumption that respondents can have only a single child. Socioeconomic status (p<0.01) and residential area (p<0.05) were significant variables for those aged 49 or below. Education level(p<0.05) and residential area (p<0.01) were statistically significant variables on preferring son in case of having only one child for respondents aged 50 to 69. We did not detect any significant independent variables in respondents who were 70 or older. Conclusions: Our results highlight the necessity of developing policies and public education programs to explain the consequences of low birth rates and sex imbalances in Korea. As increasing numbers of women work outside the home, it is important for the government and employers to provide social and working environments where women do not consider marriage and childbirth to be obstacles to social and business activities.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.140-151
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• 2019

It is to assess the indoor air quality of the chemical hazardous materials exposed to the fire after firefighters returned to the fire scene. The research subject randomly selected four fire stations located in Seoul, Korea. Two fire stations were set up as control groups after the return of the firefighting activities at the actual fire scene, and two other fire stations were set up as control groups to measure the air quality of the room at normal levels regardless of the action. We conducted 24-hour monitoring for all fire accidents that occurred in Seoul Metropolitan using fire safety map computer system. Also, indoor air quality was measured immediately after homecoming if the experiment group was to be dispatched due to an accident of intermediate or larger scale. 11 hazardous substance items such as fine dust, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, PAH, VCM, acidity, asbestos, CO₂, NO₂, O₃ were measured according to the process test method. Three of 11 types of harmful substances exceeded domestic and foreign standards, and one of them was found to be close to foreign standards. In particular, total volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide and sulfuric acids were 2.5 times, 2.2 times and 1.1 times higher than the standard. Also, for formaldehyde and sulfuric acid, it was measured higher in the control group than in the case group. This findings could be used in policies to improve indoor air quality in the fire station of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

• 한국노년학
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.905-926
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• 2016

Although the concept of the elderly varies depending on scholars and laws, as consumption expenditure is deeply associated with income due to the nature of this study, 55 years old was set as the low limit standard for the elderly according to Prohibition of Discrimination on Age in Employment and Employment Promotion for the Aged Act and the elderly households were limited to single-elderly person household and an elderly couple family household for this study. It is considered consumption characteristics as a significant analysis subject in terms of social welfare because it could be understood as an expressed need which was a reflection of desire. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the consumption characteristics of the elderly households by stereotyping the consumption pattern of the elderly households, and find the determining factors for consumption patterns and thus contribute to the establishment of related policies through the expressed needs of the elderly households. K-means of cluster analysis was performed by putting the consumption expenditure of the elderly households to investigate inherent structural type of consumption pattern of the elderly households, which were the investigation subjects. As a result, four groups were stereotyped and named as below: 'health care-centered type', 'saving-centered type', 'livelihood-centered type', and 'food expenses-centered type' Binary Logistic Regression analysis was used to identify the factors that influence the decision of consumption pattern of the elderly households. The result of study showed that the elderly households faced all different needs and problems and thus there is a need for various approach plans to solve this situation. In particular, although the elderly have been viewed as economically poor people so far, the study showed that there were also kind of prepared households through saving. Overall, livelihoodcentered type accounted for the highest portion and, as a factor that influenced this, marital state and household income played an important role. Therefore, it is considered that more active efforts to increase the income of the elderly households are needed. In addition, age, owning of house and subjective health state were found to also have significant influence. Through these results of the study, the elderly's own improvement of awareness on health, presentation of overall standard for health state of the elderly, securement of the elderly's access to cultural life, and financial management coordination for improvement of quality of life, development and dissemination of jobs suitable for the elderly, and dissemination of communal life household, which is a cooperation residential type, were presented as institutional task in the conclusion.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.222-230
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• 2020

This study verified the effect size of related factors through meta-analysis based on master's theses and doctoral dissertations and academic journal papers studied in Korea for the past 10years in relation to the resilience of childcare teachers. The verification results are as follows. First, the overall effect size of the protection factors was large. In addition, the personality factor group was the largest among the protection factor groups, followed by the job characteristic factor group and the organizational attribute factor group. Second, among the protection factors, all the sub-factors except the organizational characteristic factor group-ledger leadership and job characteristic factor group-emotional labor, which showed the medium effect size, showed a large effect size. Third, the overall effect size of the risk factor showed a large effect size. The organizational characteristic factor group-burnout showed a larger effect size than the job characteristic factor group-job stress. In conclusion, this study is meaningful in that it attempted a quantitative integration to examine objective results by integrating the previous studies in relation to the resilience of childcare teachers over the past 20 years. In addition, it is significant that it provided basic data for the development of policies and policy developments to improve the resilience of childcare teachers.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1-48
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• 2014

Recently, governance of science and technology emerged as one of most important social problems and as a result it is crucial to understand it in science and technology studies. This article discusses three most important realms in science and technology goverance - research and development, regulation, and social movement - in the concrete Korean contexts. First of all, the Korean state has driven research and development and promoted its commercialization unlike other developed countries. Consequently, this nationalistic view on science disseminated to Korean public and it generated uniformity in research style and organization. Second, science and technology regulations embraced developed countries' policies, leading to its glocalization. As a result, technocratic old governance and new governance including precautionary principle and participatory democracy coexist. Third, the civil society has challenged expertise and state-driven science and technology governance and fueled social movements related to environment, safety, and health issues. The politics of knowledge created by citizens' voluntary participation and collaborative experts made it clear that science and technology should be no longer tool for economic development. In conclusion, we discuss characteristics of science and technology governance in Korea, giving various implication on current research and policy.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2022

In 1991, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) declared "tourism accessible for all" recommending the practice of the right to enjoy tourism. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea (2019), the disabled, who are the most vulnerable in tourism, accounted for 5.1% of the total population, and the number of the elderly over 65 is expected to increase to 20.3% by 2025. In particular, the need for customized policies has been raised as the proportion of disabled people among the elderly aged 65 and over continues to increase. Thus, this study identified the spatial characteristics of Universal Design (UD) tourist destinations considering the tourism vulnerable groups. Administrative units (425 dongs) in Seoul were used as spatial units for analysis. As a research method, first, a spatial model was specified through LM verification, and then spatial regression analysis was performed. As a result of the analysis, the spatial characteristics of UD tourist destinations were found to have positive (+) effects on the number of universally certified businesses, the number of restaurants, and the number of bus stops that were available to the vulnerable. It was confirmed that there are a large number of universal certified businesses, restaurants, and bus stops in dongs with UD tourist destinations. The findings will provide policy implications when promoting the right to enjoy tourism in the future and improving Korean universal design quality.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.805-817
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the preference and consumption status of non-alcohol and alcohol beverages of Korean and Chinese university students in the Jeonbuk area. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 241 Korean and 198 Chinese students. Statistical data analysis was completed using SPSS v. 12.0. 'Water' was the most commonly consumed non-alcohol beverages by all Korean and Chinese students. The intake frequency of 'carbonated drink' (p<.001), 'fruits/vegetable juice' (p<.05), and 'vinegar drink' (p<.01) of Chinese male students was significantly higher than the Korean male students. The intake frequency of 'ionic drink' (p<.001; p<.01) of Korean male and female students was significantly higher than the Chinese male and female students. The intake frequency of 'fruits/vegetable juice' (p<.001), 'milk' (p<.01), and 'soymilk' (p<.05) of Chinese female students was higher than the Korean female students. For the choosing the non-alcohol beverages, the Chinese female students were more health-oriented than the Korean female students (p<.01). 'Beer' was the most commonly consumed alcohol beverages by the Korean male and female and Chinese male students whereas 'Wine' was the most commonly consumed alcohol beverages by the Chinese female students. The intake frequency of 'Soju' of Korean male (p<.001) and female (p<.001) students was higher than the Chinese male and female students. The intake frequency of 'Wine' of Chinese male (p<.05) and female (p<.001) students higher than the Korean male and female students. Compared with the Chinese female students, the Korean female students more funds have to spend, in order to buy alcohol beverages (p<.01). More 81% of the Korean male and 80% of the female students reported drinking alcohol in 'beer house' whereas 78% of the Chinese male and 65% of female students drunken the alcohol in the 'beer house' or at 'home' (p<.01; p<.001). In conclusion, a practically and foreigner-friendly alcohol policies of university should be devised to reduce the alcohol consumption of students and related problems.