• Title/Summary/Keyword: Laboratory worker

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A Simple Proposition for Improving Industrial Hygiene Air Sampling Methods

  • Paik, Samuel Y.;Zalk, David M.
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.389-392
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    • 2019
  • When conducting an exposure assessment, the primary goal of the industrial hygienist is to fully characterize the worker's exposure during a work shift to compare it with an occupational exposure limit. This applies regardless of the duration of the work activity as an activity that is relatively short in duration can still present exposure in excess of the occupational exposure limit even when normalized over an 8-hr shift. This goal, however, is often impeded by the specification of a minimum sample volume in the published sampling method, which may prevent the sample from being collected or submitted for analysis. Removing the specification of minimum sample volume (or adjusting it from a requirement to a recommendation), in contrast, allows for a broader assessment of jobs that consist of short-duration and high-exposure activities and also eliminates the unnecessary practice of running sampling pumps in clean air to collect a specified, minimum volume.

Crowdsourcing Software Development: Task Assignment Using PDDL Artificial Intelligence Planning

  • Tunio, Muhammad Zahid;Luo, Haiyong;Wang, Cong;Zhao, Fang;Shao, Wenhua;Pathan, Zulfiqar Hussain
    • Journal of Information Processing Systems
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.129-139
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    • 2018
  • The crowdsourcing software development (CSD) is growing rapidly in the open call format in a competitive environment. In CSD, tasks are posted on a web-based CSD platform for CSD workers to compete for the task and win rewards. Task searching and assigning are very important aspects of the CSD environment because tasks posted on different platforms are in hundreds. To search and evaluate a thousand submissions on the platform are very difficult and time-consuming process for both the developer and platform. However, there are many other problems that are affecting CSD quality and reliability of CSD workers to assign the task which include the required knowledge, large participation, time complexity and incentive motivations. In order to attract the right person for the right task, the execution of action plans will help the CSD platform as well the CSD worker for the best matching with their tasks. This study formalized the task assignment method by utilizing different situations in a CSD competition-based environment in artificial intelligence (AI) planning. The results from this study suggested that assigning the task has many challenges whenever there are undefined conditions, especially in a competitive environment. Our main focus is to evaluate the AI automated planning to provide the best possible solution to matching the CSD worker with their personality type.

Derivation of preliminary derived concentration guideline level (DCGL) by reuse scenario for Kori Unit 1 using RESRAD-BUILD

  • Park, Sang June;Byon, Jihyang;Ban, Doo Hyun;Lee, Suhee;Sohn, Wook;Ahn, Seokyoung
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.52 no.6
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    • pp.1231-1242
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    • 2020
  • The Kori Unit 1 will be decommissioned after a permanent shutdown in June 2017. South Korea has a 0.1 mSv/yr exposure limit standard for limited or unlimited site release. This is South Korea's first commercial NPP; therefore, if the containment building is reused as a memorial hall, it will contribute to the improvement of public understanding and enhance the public's acceptance of NPPs. Also, existing Kori Unit 1 nuclear power plant manpower resources can be reused after decommissioning and resident staff and memorial hall visitors can activate nearby commercial areas. Therefore, such a reuse scenario may also prevent an economic recession. The exposure dose was calculated using the following scenarios: worker in the containment building, visitor in the containment building, and worker in buildings other than the containment building. The exposure dose in the buildings was calculated by the RESRAD-BUILD developed by the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The preliminary exposure dose and derived concentration guideline level (DCGL) were derived.

Research on the usage status of Job Instructions in domestic enterprises holding ISO certification (국내 ISO 인증기업의 실무지침서 운용실태에 대한 조사연구)

  • Syn, Dong-Sig;Jung, Jang-Woo;Pack, Jong-Yop;Kang, Kyung-Sik
    • Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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    • v.10 no.4
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    • pp.165-171
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    • 2008
  • In the policy management system of the safety&health(same as the environment and the quality), the documentation of the management system is required in various international standards & guides. In case of 3 level classification of the system documents, it generally will be identified such name as the manual, the procedure(or the process) and the job instruction. Each level of the document has the unique role and usage though, the job instructions, especially, would be developed to support the practical job worker. Considering such document level, the job instructions should be reflect the latest know-how of the job-handling methods. And that, it should be used at any times by the related job worker. This paper is prepared for surveying the actual usage status of the job instructions of the domestic enterprises holding ISO certificate and trying to suggest the better way of application of the system documents.

Molecular Investigation of Two Consecutive Nosocomial Clusters of Candida tropicalis Candiduria Using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

  • Park, Joon;Shin, Jong-Hee;Song, Jeong-Won;Park, Mi-Ra;Kee, Seung-Jung;Jang, Sook-Jin;Park, Young-Kyu;Suh, Soon-Pal;Ryang, Dong-Wook
    • Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.80-86
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    • 2004
  • Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing was applied to the epidemiological investigation of 21 Candida tropicalis isolates collected from urine specimens of 11 patients and one healthcare worker, in an intensive care unit (ICU) over a 4-month period. Seventeen epidemiologically unrelated strains from 14 patients were also tested to determine the discriminatory power of PFGE. PFGE typing consisted of electrophoretic karyotyping (EK) and restriction endonuclease analysis of genomic DNA (REAG), using two restriction enzymes (BssHII and SfiI). The EK pattern was the same in all 38 isolates, while REAG using SfiI separated the isolates into nine types. However, 16 different PFGE types were iden-tified by REAG with BssHII, and the same results were obtained when the results of both REAG tests were combined. In serial urinary isolates from 10 patients, all strains from each patient had the same PFGE pattern. While the epidemiologically unrelated strains from 14 patients consisted of 13 different PFGE types, the 20 isolates from the 11 ICU patients fell into only two PFGE types (types Cl and C2), and these apparently originated from the two different outbreaks. All strains of type Cl (n = 12) were isolated from six patients, between November 1999 and January 2000, and all of the type C2 strains (n=8) were isolated from five patients, during January and February 2000. This study shows two con-secutive clusters of C. tropicalis candiduria in an ICU, defined by PFGE typing, and also demonstrates that a PFGE typing method using BssHII is perhaps the most useful method for investigating C. tropi-calis candiduria.

The Effect of Workplace Noise on the Hearing Threshold of Dental Technicians

  • Lee, Ju Hee;Lee, Hye Ran;Lee, Og Kyoung
    • Biomedical Science Letters
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.201-208
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    • 2014
  • This study was conducted to investigate hypoacusis due to workplace noise among dental technicians. Pure tone audiometry, impedance audiometry and heart rate variability were measured for 60 dental technicians and office workers in D city from July to November 2013, and a survey on the effects of noise was conducted. SPSS 19.0 was used for statistical analysis. In the result for threshold of pure tone audiometry, the average hearing threshold of left ears in the air conduction (AC) test showed a statistically significant decrease (P=0.019) among dental technicians, who are frequently exposed to workplace noise. The hearing threshold in the AC test for each frequency was significantly different between the two groups at 125 Hz (P=0.012) in right ears and at 1 kHz (P=0.022), 2 kHz (P=0.040), and 8 kHz (P=0.018) in left ears. Dental technicians who had worked for 16 years or longer had a significantly higher incidence of hypoacusis in the right ear (P=0.030) and in the left ear (P=0.010). In impedance audiometry showed a tympanometry result of type A in both the dental technician group and the office worker group.

Detection of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcs aureus from the Anterior Nares of Healthcare Workers in a Intensive Care Unit by Using PBP2a Rapid Kit and Direct Coagulase Test (중환자실에 근무하는 의료인의 전비강에서 PBP2a Rapid Kit와 직접 Coagulase 검사를 이용한 Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus의 검출)

  • Hong, Seung-Bok;Shin, Kyung-A;Son, Jae-Cheol;Shin, Seob-Kyeong
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.86-91
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    • 2010
  • We evaluated the performance of a novel screening test, PBP2a MRSA rapid kit (Dinona Inc., Iksan, Korea), for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) based on a immunochromatographic assay. The test is able to detect penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a) using the nasal specimens from health care workers. The nasal specimens were obtained from 69 healthcare workers and were incubated in enrichment broth followed eight hours incubatin in BHI with cefoxitin $4{\mu}g/mL$. These broth were tested by PBP2a Rapid Kit. The enrichment broths were also directly tested for tube coagulase using the conventional identification method. 19 of 22 MRSA showed positive results by PBP2a rapid test and direct coagulase test (the sensitivity for detection of MRSA, 86.36%). While, 8 of 47 non-MRSA showed false positive results for the two tests. All of the 8 non-MRSA which showed false positive were co-colonizing isolates with MRCNS and MSSA. In addition, 46 of 49 methicillin-resistant staphylococci (MRS) showed positive results for PBP2a MRSA rapid kit (the sensitivity for detection of MRS, 93.8%), and all of 20 non-MRS showed negative results (specificity, 100%). The combination of PBP2a MRSA rapid kit and direct coagulase test showed the good sensitivity for detection of MRSA from anterior nares but frequently showed false positive results from the co-colonizing carrier with MRCNS and MSSA.

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The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of bee venom against bacteria isolated from pigs and chickens (돼지 및 닭에서 분리된 균에 대한 봉독의 최소억제농도(MIC))

  • Kim Soon-Tae;Hwang Ji-Young;Sung Myoung-Suk;Je So-Yang;Bae Dong-Rok;Han Sang-Mi;Lee Sung-Hae
    • Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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    • v.29 no.1
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    • pp.19-26
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    • 2006
  • Bee venom is synthesized in the venom gland's of worker and queen bees and stored in their venom sacs. Bee venom is a rich source of enzymes, peptides and biogenic amines. there are at least 18 active components in the venom which have some pharmaceutical properties. This study was performed to evaluate minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC) of bee venom against bacteria isolated from pjgs and chickens with disease. In case of reference strains, the MIC $({\mu}g/m{\ell})$ of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Streptococcus mutans ATCC 25175, and Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 6538 were 64, 64 and 32, respectively. In case of bacteria isolated from pig and chicken, the MIC of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus hyicus and Staphylococcus chromogenes were 8, 128 and 128, and that of 11 strains of Escherichia coli were 8 to >512 and that of 8 strains of Salmonella sup were >512. Antibacterial resistance test of 22 strains isolated from pig and chicken and 3 reference strains were performed by agar gel diffusion method, using 17 antibacterial drugs including penicillin, cefazolin, tetracycline and quinolone group. The multiple drug resistant patterns were found in most strains isolated from pig and chicken.

Concentration of Urinary Hippuric Acid in Toluene-Exposed Workers According to the Specific Characteristic of Work

  • Kwon, Se-Young;Na, Young-Ak;Kim, Sang-Rak
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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    • v.44 no.1
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    • pp.17-23
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    • 2012
  • This study is assessed the urinary hippuric acid (HA) concentration in toluene-exposed workers. Toluene is widely used in the coating, printing, painting and petroleum industries. We analyzed the hippuric acid level of toluene-exposed workers (males: 198, females: 63) from 2008 to 2010 and examined the relationship between hippuric acid and the characteristics of their work. The measurements of the urinary hippuric acid were confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Among the subjects, males had on average more work experience than females (males: 9.17 years, females: 4.45 years), but females showed a higher hippuric acid concentration levels than males (males: 0.26 g/L, females: 0.75 g/L). The mean of the HA concentration according to the age group was 0.19 g/L in 30's, 0.30 g/L in 40's, 0.54 g/L in 50's, 1.36 g/L in 60's. Those in their 60's had the highest concentration. The mean of HA concentration according to the type of work was 0.70 g/L for the coating, 0.52 g/L for the painting, and 0.16 g/L for the printing industries, revealing that the workers in the coating industry had the highest concentration. By the highest order, the mean of HA concentration by working period was as follows; less than 5 years, ${\leq}5\;years{\sim}<10\;years$. The factors that influence the HA concentration are not only how long one is exposed to toluene but also the type of work, worker's age, and their gender.

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A Study on Worker Exposure Level and Variation to Asbestos in some Asbestos Industries (일부 석면취급사업장의 석면폭로 농도 및 작업환경관리 기준에 관한 연구)

  • Oh, Se Min;Shin, Yong Chul;Park, Doo Yong;Park, Dong Uk;Chung, Kyou Chull
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.100-109
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    • 1993
  • This study was performed to evaluate the asbestos exposure levels and variations in textile, brake lining manufacturing and slate manufacturing industries. For this study, fifteen plants of brake lining manufacturing industry, 7 plants of textile industry, and 2 plants of slate manufacturing industry were selected and surveyed. Geometric means (GMs) of airborne asbestos concentrations in textile, brake lining manufacturing, and slate manufacturing industries were 1.42 f/cc(0.07-6.1O f/cc), 0.19 f/cc(<0.01-2.67 f/cc) and 0.08 f/cc(0.02-0.67 f/cc), respectively. In textile industry overall GMs of airborne asbestos concentrations in plants with less than 50 workers and in plants with more than 50 workers were 1.60 f/cc and 0.3 f/cc, respectively. Therefore, the size of plant showed some difference in the airborne asbestos concentrations. Three out of 7(42.9%) exceed the Korean standard, 2 f/cc, and every plant exceed the USA standard, 0.2 f/cc of the OSHA-Permissible Exposure Level(OSHA-PEL). Especially, one plant showed the highest average concentration of 2.87 f/cc. In brake lining manufacturing industry, the plants with less than 50 workers showed 0.22 f/cc. The plants with more than 50 workers showed 0.18 f/cc. All plants showed the exposure level below the Korean standard. Five of 15 (33.3%) were above the OSHA-PEL. One plant showed the highest average concentraton of 0.84 f/cc. In slate manufacturing industry, the average exposure level was 0.08 f/cc, and all of the plants were below the Korean standard and the OSHA-PEL.

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