• Development and Reproduction
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2012

Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical with weak estrogenic activity is reported to affect preimplantation embryos, fetuses and alter their postnatal development. This study amied to determine the relation between the levels of BPA in the amniotic fluid and pregnancy outcomes. ELISA was used to measure amniotic fluid BPA in 120 pregnant women who underwent genetic amniocentesis at 15~20 weeks gestation. The most common indication for amniocentesis was advanced maternal age (35 yrs or older). BPA was detected in all amniotic fluid. The range of amniotic fluid BPA concentrations was from 0.89 ng/mL to 37.13 ng/mL with a mean level of 7.24 ng/mL. We compared the means of amniotic fluid BPA concentrations according to maternal age (${\geq}35$ vs. <35 yrs), fetal sex (male vs. female), gestational age at birth (${\geq}37$ vs. <37 weeks), and infant birth weight (${\geq}2.5$ vs. <2.5 kg). No significant differences were found in these outcomes. This is the first report of amniotic fluid BPA levels in Korean pregnant women. Our findings suggest that BPA may not affect the pregnancy outcomes such as fetal sex, preterm delivery and low birth weight. Whether prenatal exposure to BPA can have teratogenic effect on developing embryo needs to be studied.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.225-228
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• 2018

Plasticizers added to thermoplastic polymers are known to shorten the life of products due to the elution to outside, and some of them are harmful to our environment and human body. Since the use of phthalate plasticizers suspected of being carcinogens has been gradually prohibited, there is a need for environmentally friendly plasticizers that can replace them. Most of the substances have a low compatibility with resin, high cost and lack of safety verification. Therefore, in this study, four kinds of norbornene dialkyl ester compounds possessing excellent physical properties, which are also reported as safe compounds from the toxicity evaluation, were added to PVC resin to evaluate the possibility of human exposure by leaching, and also the potential usage as plasticizer candidates alternative to commercial ones including DEHP, DINCH and DOTP. The test was carried out according to the American standard test method (ASTM). The results showed that di-2-ethylhexyl-5-norbornene-2,3-dicarboxylate (DEHN) in aqueous solvents and diisopentyl-5-norbornene-2,3-dicarboxylate (DIPN) compounds in oil solvents were superior or equivalent to DEHP. In addition, all four norbornene compounds showed lower values than 100 ppm, which is considered to have an influence on the environment, indicating that the polar norbornene structure affects the elution.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.13-20
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• 2003

In an experimental study, we assessed human sensibility in terms of psychophysiological response according to change of speeds (40, 70, 100km/h) in a driving simulator and application of motion fitters (washout filter, non-washout later) in a roller coaster simulator. For the driving and roller coaster simulators, a group of 12 healthy men in their twenties and a group of 8 healthy men in their twenties, respectively, participated. Participants each completed a simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ), a subjective assessment of sensations of pleasantness, tension, and arousal, and perception of speed. Physiological signals were measured by 1/f fluctuation of EEG (electroencephalogram), ECG (electrocardiogram), and GSR (galvanic skin response). These were measured pre-to-post under the experimental conditions for each simulator. Subjective pleasantness, tension, arousal, and perception of speed and physiological responses indicating a feeling of pleasantness by 1/f fluctuation were higher for the roller coaster simulator than those measured for low speed driving in the driving simulator. The mean frequency of alpha band (8-l3㎐) in EEG increased with exposure to the driving simulator relative to that for the roller coaster simulator. Heart rate variability and GSR were significantly changed between pre- and post- under each condition in the driving and roller coaster simulators. The data suggest that subjective sensibility was elevated according to gain of speed and variety of simulator motion, and physiological responses were activated with increased speed.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.698-702
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• 2008

Purpose: Basal cell carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in the western population and the annual incidence rate is still on an increasing course. In Asian countries such as Korea, the incidence of basal cell carcinoma is reported to be remarkably low but is estimated to be in a steep increase nowadays. This study was to analyze the recent clinical trends of basal cell carcinoma in Korea by reviewing a single institution's experience. Methods: Throughout an 11-year period, the surgical excision of 143 cases of basal cell carcinoma was performed in our department. General data of these cases such as the primary site of cancer, age and sex of the patient, operative methods, recurrence rate were reviewed retrospectively. Results: Among the 143 patients included in this study, 82 patients were men and 61 patients were women. The ages ranged from 27 to 89 years with a mean age of 64.0 years. The head and neck region was the most frequently involved primary site for the cancer as 95.1% of the total cases occurred in this area. Especially the nose and perinasal area were the most frequent region, which was followed by the periorbital area, cheek, and perioral area. During this study period, 9 cases showed recurrence of the cancer as the overall recurrence rate was 6.3%. Conclusion: Gradual increase in the incidence of basal cell carcinoma was demonstrated in this study. Basal cell carcinoma showed high incidence in the old-age population as 68.5% of the total patients were more than 60 years of age. High recurrence rate was noted in the nasal region especially after local flap reconstruction. A more cautious approach is to be required when handing such high risk lesions. Multiple factors such as extended life span, increased outdoor leisure activity and exposure to sunlight, higher accessibility to medical services and increased understanding of the public about skin cancer are assumed to be the main reasons for this increase of basal cell carcinoma.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.409-413
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• 2011

An X-ray tube used an X-ray fluorescence analysis system has a low X-ray photon intensity which results in reducing measurement accuracy and increasing exposure time. These shortages can be overcame by using a monocapillary optics. A monocapillary optics was optimally designed for focusing the characteristic X-ray of tungsten (8.4 keV). The monocapillary optics can achieve a gain of 10 at the least. The monocapillary optics was fabricated by using puller and pyrex glass, raw material. In fabrication, a weigh of 45g and a temperature of $650^{\circ}$ was loaded. The total fabrication time was 460 minutes. The fabricated capillary had 87 mm in length and maximum diameter of 300 ${\mu}m$ and minimum diameter of 192 ${\mu}m$. When the fabricated monocapillary optics is applied to an X-ray fluorescence analysis system, the detection accuracy for soft elements, for example sulfur (S), will be improved.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.91-99
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• 2011

Risk ranking must be determined for various hazards/food combinations to conduct microbial risk management effectively. Risk Ranger is a simple, easy-to-use calculation tool developed in Microsoft Excel and designed to rank the risk (low, medium, and high) for semi-quantitative microbial risk assessment. The user is required to answer 11 questions in Risk Ranger related to 1) severity of the hazard, 2) likelihood of a disease-causing dose of the hazard being present in the meal, and 3) the probability of exposure to the hazard in a defined time. This study determined the risk ranking for twenty three combinations of foodborne pathogens/potentially hazardous foods (PHFs) using a Risk Ranger. In this study, pathogenic E. coli in fresh cut produce salad was scored as 79, which was the highest rank among the 23 combinations of the foodborne pathogens and PHFs. On the other hand, zero risk was obtained with V parahaemolyticus in sushi, Salmonella in meat products and E. coli O157:H7 in hamburger patties. Although Risk Ranger is very simple method to rate the risk of foodborne pathogens and PHFs combination, the accuracy of result was mainly affected by the availability and accuracy of data in the literature. According to the result of literature review, the data are needed for contamination rate of raw materials, consumption amount/frequency of PHFs, and the effect of processing on pathogen. Risk ranking must be continuously revalidated with new data.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.58 no.7
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• pp.435-442
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• 2020

Porcelain is the first ceramic material to be introduced into dentistry. Porcelain jacket crown was introduced by Dr. Charles H Land in 1886, which was an excellent aesthetic dental restoration but has not been widely used due to high firing shrinkage and low tensile strength. Then metal-ceramic system, which combines the esthetic properties of ceramics and the mechanical properties of metals, was introduced and nowadays it is still used in dental clinical field. However, the metal-ceramic system has shown some problems, such as increased lightness by reflection of light at opaque layer, shadow beneath the gingival line due to the block-out of light by metal coping, exposure of metal in margin part, bond failure between metal and porcelain, oxidation of metal coping during firing the porcelain, etc. Recently, along with the advance of fabrication methods of dental ceramics, the all-ceramic restorations with high esthetic and mechanical properties has increased and gradually replaced metal-ceramic restorations. Especially, CAD/CAM technology has opened a new era in fabricating the dental ceramic restorations. This overview will take a look at the past, present and future possibility of the dental ceramic materials.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.646-655
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceived distance from home to high-voltage power lines using a transmission and substation geographic information system(TGIS). Of the 725, 136 respondents reported that high voltage power transmission tower, power lines or substation was within visual field range from home. Among them, 114 respondents reported valid address, which could be used in the analysis of TGIS. Forty two respondents(36.8 %) estimated that the power lines were closer and 15 respondents(13.2 %) estimated that they were farther than they actually were. Our current findings suggest that the reported distance from home to high-voltage power transmission towers, power lines, and substations cannot be used as a proxy for exposure to electromagnetic fields due to the low validity.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.117-129
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• 2002

Concentration of welding fumes and their components is known to be hazardous to welder and adjacent worker. To determine the generation rates of metals in fumes, $CO_2$ flux cored arc welding on stainless steel was performed in well designed fume collection chamber. Variables were different products of flux cored wire(2 domestic products and 4 foreign products) and input energy(low-, optimal- , high input energy). Mass of welding fumes was determined by gravimetric method(NIOSH 0500 method), and 17 metals were analysed by inductively coupled plasm-atomic emission spectroscopy(NIOSH 7300 method). Flux cored wire tube and flux were analysed by scanning electron microscopy to determine their metal composition. 17 metals were classified by their generation rates. Generation rates of iron, manganese, potassium and sodium were all above 50mg/min at optimal input energy level. Generation rates of chromium and amorphous silica were 25~50mg/min. At 1~25mg/min level, nickel, titanium, molybdenum, and aluminum were included. Copper, zinc, calcium, lead, magnesium, lithium, and cobalt were generated below 1 mg/min. Generation rates of metal components in fumes were influenced by input energy, types of flux cored wire. Flux cored wire was consisted of outer shell tube and inner flux. Iron, chromium, and nickel were the major components of outer tube. Flux contained iron, chromium, nickel, potassium, sodium, silica, and manganese. The use of flux cored wire can increase the hazards by increasing the amounts of fumes formed relative to that of solid wire. The reason might be the direct transfer of elements from the flux, since the flux is fine power. Ratio of metals to the fume of flux cored wire was lower than that of solid wire because non-metal components of flux were transferred. Total metal content of fumes in flux cored arc welding was 47.4(24.3~57.2) percent that is much lower than that of solid wire, 75.9 percent. We found that generation rates of iron, manganese, chromium and nickel, all well known to cause work related disease to welder, increased more rapidly with increasing input energy than those of fumes. To reduce worker exposure to fumes and hazardous component at source, further research is needed to develop new welding filler materials that decrease both the amount of fumes and hazardous components.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2000

XOQ_DW code is currently used to assess the atmospheric dispersion fur the routine releases of radioactive gaseous effluents at Yonggwang nuclear power plants. This code was developed based on XOQDOQ code and an additional code is required to assess the atmospheric dispersion for potential accidental releases. In order to assess the atmospheric dispersion fer the accidental releases, XOQAR code has been developed by using PAVAN code that is based on Reg. Guide 1.145. The terrain data of XOQ_DW code inputs and the relative concentrations (X/Q) of XOQ_DW code outputs are used as the inputs of the XOQAR code through the interface with XOQ_DW code. By using this code, the maximum values of X/Q at exclusion area and low population zone boundaries except for sea areas were assessed as $1.33{\times}10^{-4}$ and $7.66{\times}10^{-6}$ sec/$m^3$, respectively. Through the development of this code, a rode system is prepared for assessing the atmospheric dispersion for the accidental releases as well as the routine releases. This developed code ran be used for other domestic nuclear power plants by modifying the terrain input data.