• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.413-426
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• 2019

Many factories indiscriminately located in the vicinity of residential areas need to be adjusted to quasi-industrial parks or new planning management area. In the present work, the changes of atmospheric $SO_2$ concentration according to clustering of individual location factories throughout Gimpo city into a new area were evaluated using a commercial dispersion model, AERMOD. As a result of the evaluation, it was suggested the possibility of improving the pollution through the relocation of individual factories. The combination of relocation and discharge regulation on the stack height may reduce the overall pollution from Gimpo approximately up to 70%, and some areas achieve maximum 87% decrease. However, the area selected as a cluster zone may show a relatively large increase compared to the change in the total pollution level of Gimpo.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.245-258
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• 2005

This paper addresses two types of uncertainty: stochastic uncertainty and subjective uncertainty in probabilistic accident consequence assessments. The off-site consequence assessment code OSCAAR has been applied to uncertainty and sensitivity analyses on the individual risks of early fatality and latent cancer fatality in the population outside the plant boundary due to a severe accident. A new stratified meteorological sampling scheme was successfully implemented into the trajectory model for atmospheric dispersion and the statistical variability of the probability distributions of the consequence was examined. A total of 65 uncertain input parameters was considered and 128 runs of OSCAAR with 144 meteorological sequences were performed in the parameter uncertainty analysis. The study provided the range of uncertainty for the expected values of individual risks of early and latent cancer fatality close to the site. In the sensitivity analyses, the correlation/regression measures were useful for identifying those input parameters whose uncertainty makes an important contribution to the overall uncertainty for the consequence. This could provide valuable insights into areas for further research aiming at reducing the uncertainties.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2009

Korean society is faced with various new problems arising from the development projects of new towns, industrial cities, large-scale residential complexes, etc. started from the 1970s. Particularly with the construction of residential and industrial complexes by the roadsides, they are openly exposed to road traffic noise and vibration. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine using noise maps how increasing traffic volume affects road traffic noise and what problems it causes in areas where new towns or complexes are constructed by development projects. According to the results of this study, in areas around the sites of development projects, the noise level increased by road traffic noise compared to that before development and was 1.16~6.92 times higher than the environmental noise standard, but measures to reduce road traffic noise was lukewarm. In addition, areas with soundproof facilities showed a noise level 1~3 step lower than other areas, and in individual buildings, the noise level on the side facing the road was 1~2 step higher than that on the rear side.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.49-61
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• 2009

Background: The appropriate management of diabetes mellitus(DM) can help reduce its relapse and economic burden, but the level of management of DM in Korea is reported to be insufficient. This study aims to identify the management level of DM by figuring out the HbA1c examination performance rate of the diabetics and analyzing the variation according to the characteristic of a diabetic. Methods: This study used the Korean National Health Insurance Database which includes E10-14(ICD-10 code) as a primary or secondary disease as of 2006. Study population is 1,892,062 diabetics excluding 393,784 patients with the first attack of DM in 2006, 33,440 diabetics who died in 2006, and 21,299 patients with DM having no record of ambulatory care among the 2,340,585 DM patients in total. Results: The HbA1c examination performance rate of all DM patients in our country is estimated to be 41.5% as of 2006 and shows variation according to the characteristic of individual DM patients. The highest performance odds was shown by the patients who were below 19 of age, insured for health insurance, attended more than 3 ambulatory care providers, made ambulatory care visits more than 10 times annually, attended a specialized general hospital as their main attending medical institution, had a record of hospitalization or had co-morbidity. Conclusion: This study propose that is necessary to make politic preparations for the appropriate management of diabetes at a national level, and particularly, the patients with advanced age, the ones dependent on Medical Aid, and the ones using hospitals or clinics, whose appropriate management seems vulnerable, demand a careful management.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.276-282
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• 2004

Marginal Zn deficiency is prevalent through the world and yet human zinc status has not been properly assessed due to the lack of a reliable diagnostic indicator. One potential possibility for zinc status assessment using Zn-binding protein, metallothionein (MT)-mRNA, has been proposed. The purpose of the present study was aimed to show whether measurement of mononuclear cell (MNC) MT mRNA, using a competitive-reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (competitive-RT-PCR) assay, could indicate zinc status in human subjects. In this study, MNC MT-mRNA expression was measured using a competitive-RT-PCR to compare before and after 14 days of zinc supplementation (50 mg Zn/das zinc gluconate). RT-PCR oligonucleotide primers which were designed to amplify both a 278 bp segment of the human MT-2A cDNA and a 198 bp mutant competitor cDNA template from MNCs, were prepared. MT-2A mRNA was normalized by reference to the housekeeping gene, $\beta$-actin, mRNA for which was also measured by competitive-RT-PCR. There was considerable inter-individual variation in MT-mRNA concentration and yet, the mean MT-2A mRNA level increased 4.7-fold after Zn supplementation, as compared to before Zn supplementation. This MT-2A mRNA level was shown as the same pattern and, even more sensitive assay, compared to the conventional plasma and red blood cells (RBCs) Zn assessment in which plasma and RBCs zinc levels increased 2.3- and 1.2-fold, respectively (p<0.05). We suggest that MT competitive-RT-PCR can be a useful assessment tool for evaluating human zinc status.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2014

In diagnostic radiology, each part is examined through serial radiography in most cases of general radiography. However, the reality is that, as for diagnostic reference level, measured values have been set up only for AP projection of each part and lateral projection. In the clinical setting, cumulative dose is incurred by serial radiography of patients, and this can make comparison of diagnostic reference level and cumulative exposure dose impossible or can lead to underestimation of diagnostic reference level. In this study, measurement of cumulative dose of serial radiography of each part revealed that when converting entrance surface dose to effective dose in case it is included in the exposure field, cumulative dose measured from a maximum of 38.06% to a minimum of 0.23% of individual dose limitation of the public. Also, when converting entrance surface dose of each part that is not included in the exposure field into effective dose, it measured from a maximum of 5% to a minimum of 0.04% of individual dose limitation of the public. Results of this study show entrance surface dose substantially increases in serial radiography of each part. Therefore, it is deemed that hospitals need to establish diagnostic reference level specifically, and subdivision of radiography orders for patients is also required in order to reduce unnecessary inspections. Moreover, the need of accurate exposure field is emphasized in case of inspection of several parts.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.901-911
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• 2012

The removal of security vulnerabilities during the developmental stage is found to be much more effective and much more efficient than performing the application during the operational phase. The underlying security vulnerabilities in software have become the major cause of cyber security incidents. Thus, secure coding is drawing much attention for one of its abilities includes minimizing security vulnerabilities at the source code level. Removal of security vulnerabilities at the software's developmental stage is not only effective but can also be regarded as a fundamental solution. This thesis is a research about the methods of Mobile-Secure Coding Self Assessment in order to evaluate the security levels in accordance to the application of mobile secure coding of every individual, groups, and organizations.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2008

While in some instances, loss of diversity results from acute toxicity (e.g. major pollution incidents), in most cases it results from long-term sub-lethal effects that alter the relative competitive ability and fitness of certain organisms. In such cases the sub-lethal effects will cause a physiological response in the organism that ultimately leads to community level changes. Very sensitive tools are now available to study sub-lethal responses at the molecular level. However, relating such laboratory measurements to ecological effects represents a substantial challenge that can only be met by investigation at all scales (molecular, individual organism and community level) with an appropriate group of organisms. Among the various in vertebrates which can be used as model organisms in such a way, the soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans appear to be a promising biological model to diagnose environmental quality. This paper reviews the current status of multilevel biomarkers in environmental toxicology, and C. elegans as promising organisms for this approach.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.151-161
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• 2013

The assessment of personal exposure is a critical component in population-based epidemiologic studies of air pollution. This study was conducted to apply and compare the four exposure estimation methods of individual-level to air pollution concentration in a cohort including 2,283 subjects in Gwangyang, Korea. Individual-level exposure of air pollution were estimated using multiple approaches, including average across all monitors, nearest monitor, and spatial interpolation by inverse distance weighting and kriging. The mean concentrations of $PM_{10}$, $NO_2$, $SO_2$, CO, $O_3$ by four exposure estimation methods were slightly different but not significantly different from each other. Cross-validation showed that kriging was more accurate than other exposure estimation methods because kriging has probably predicted individual exposure levels equivalent to residential locations after estimating the parameters of a model according to the spatial surface of air pollution concentration. These data support that spatial interpolation methods may provide better estimates than selecting the value from the nearest monitor and averaging across values from all monitors by reflecting spatial attributes of air pollution on personal level.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.82-88
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• 2020

Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify individual and institutional factors associated with the prescription of systemic steroids in patients with acute respiratory infections and to investigate the role of a policy measure aimed to reduce inappropriate prescriptions. Methods: We used data from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort from 2006 to 2015 and focused on episodes of acute respiratory infection. Descriptive analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to identify individual-level and institution-level factors associated with the prescription of systemic steroids. In addition, steroid prescription rates were compared with antibiotic prescription rates to assess their serial trends in relation to Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) Prescription Appropriateness Evaluation policy. Results: Among a total of 9 460 552 episodes of respiratory infection, the steroid prescription rate was 6.8%. Defined daily doses/1000 persons/d of steroid increased gradually until 2009, but rose sharply since 2010. The steroid prescription rate was higher among ear, nose and throat specialties (13.0%) than other specialties, and in hospitals (8.0%) than in tertiary hospitals (3.0%) and other types of institutions. Following a prolonged reduction in the steroid prescription rate, this rate increased since the HIRA Prescription Appropriateness Evaluation dropped steroids from its list of evaluation items in 2009. Such a trend reversal was not observed for the prescription rate of antibiotics, which continue to be on the HIRA Prescription Appropriateness Evaluation list. Conclusions: Specialty and type of institution are important correlates of steroid prescriptions in cases of acute respiratory infection. Steroid prescriptions can also be influenced by policy measures, such as the HIRA Prescription Appropriateness Evaluation policy.