• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.207-254
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• 2018

The major court rulings delivered in 2017 include the ruling that separated the legal character of denture production agreement signed together with medical care agreement and found a subcontracting dimension in the former, and the ruling that overcame the limitations of the theory of entire appearance of a fetus as discussed in civil law by using the legal principle of insurance which suggests that unborn child insurance takes effect after the contract is signed and the first installment of the premium is paid in. As more court rulings find the medical specialists responsible for accidents and injuries from drugs, some argue that medication counseling by the druggist who makes and dispenses drugs should be upgraded. And with respect to a court ruling that denied the hospital's responsibility for an infection-involving accident even if there were no records on specific measures taken in infection management, some criticized the court for being too conservative in recognizing responsibilities. And with respect to infectious disease management, some criticized the court for its interpretation and application of the facts in the direction of denying the negligence. In addition, some claimed that it is necessary to establish institutional system for hospital infection control and its aid for victims, and to improve the system including the reversal of the burden of proof given the special nature of hospital infections. A number of rulings on the duty to disclose included the one which stated that the specific matter did not require a doctor's explanation as it was explained or the specific medical service would have been performed even if no explanation had been given. There was a greatly controversial ruling over the scope of indemnification, which accepted the occurrence of multiple scars and deformation as disorders while regarding breast as a thoracic organ. And a Supreme Court ruling over interpreting Medical Service Act was criticized as overstepping the boundary allowed in the law.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.139-153
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• 2007

Injury in agriculture is a serious public health issue with a major impact on the lives of Korean farmers. It is one of the leading causes of death and is also a major cause of longand short-term disability. In 2001, the social cost of one accident in agricultural machinery was estimated as 97.7-97.8 million won that is 4 fold of farm household income in Korea. Effective prevention and control of injuries requires a system of surveillance that monitors the incidence of injuries, their causes, treatment and outcomes. This requires an integrated system of data collection, analysis and interpretation and communication. Creating effective injury surveillance system in Korea requires to establish a framework for a national agenda. Discussions regarding the development of the framework should address, but not be limited to issues related to Data Holdings and Linkages; Capacity and Skills; Communication; Interconnection; and Surveillance Products. Ideally, an injury surveillance system would meet the information requirements across all sectors, while allowing each to have the ongoing information it needs for its policy and programming needs. This study was carried out to develop a surveillance system of agricultural injuries in Korea. Study subjects were residents who lived in a typical agricultural area (Yangpyung area in Kyung-gi province). The main data sources were reports of village headmen, compared with data of 'National Emergency Management Agency', 'National Health Insurance Corporation', 'Insurance of National Agricultural Cooperative', and 'Emergency Medical Centers'. Each data were reviewed to validate the strengths and weaknesses.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.120-145
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• 2001

Environmental risk is one of major risks in contemporary society which is often conceptualized in terms of 'risk society'. The crisis which retains such environmental risk can be characterized by 'technical hazards', rather than natural hazards in traditional societies, because of potentiality of technical control over its generation and managing process. Environmental crisis tends to be recurred due to certain limitations of response of both government and civil society. Moreover, it can be argued that generation of environmental crisis and limitations of its managing process are inherent in problematic structures in contemporary society, especially in its 4 basic elements and their characters; that is, capitalist market economy which promotes increasing profits and decreasing cost; bureaucratic representative politics which has brought about concentration of power and evasion of responsibility, instrumental science and technology which leads to blind belief on scientific knowledge and its uncertainty; and finally individualistic way of life with exclusive and passive response to crisis. This paper aims to consider the generation and managing process of environmental crisis in terms of these 4 basic elements, with comparative studies on empirical cases of the water crisis by Phenol pollution in Taegu in 1991 and the water crisis by parasites contamination in Sydney in 1998.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.408-414
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• 2018

Various studies have been conducted to reduce marine accidents. However, research on marine incidents is only marginal. There are many reports of marine incidents, but the main content of existing studies has been qualitative, which makes quantitative analysis difficult. However, quantitative analysis of marine accidents is necessary to reduce marine incidents. The purpose of this paper is to analyze marine incident data quantitatively by applying big data techniques to predict marine incident trends and reduce marine accident. To accomplish this, about 10,000 marine incident reports were prepared in a unified format through pre-processing. Using this preprocessed data, we first derived major keywords for the Marine incidents at sea using text mining techniques. Secondly, time series and cluster analysis were applied to major keywords. Trends for possible marine incidents were predicted. The results confirmed that it is possible to use quantified data and statistical analysis to address this topic. Also, we have confirmed that it is possible to provide information on preventive measures by grasping objective tendencies for marine incidents that may occur in the future through big data techniques.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.189-200
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• 2019

Korean seafarers have played a key role throughout the country's history and economic development. They have been a major source of foreign remittance into the nation as well as a pivotal sector in emergency logistics during war times. However, the current number of Korean seafarers in decreasing due to low job attractiveness and retention rate onboard. This is a major problem for the national and international shipping industry as youth seem not to be interested in working onboard for long periods of time. The purpose of this study is to 1) determine what the public opinion about seafarers in Korea is and 2) find out what factors mostly stand out in the public opinion about seafarers profession. The paper suggests that three main types of opinion groups emerged. The first type is labeled as 'high risk, high workload and high stress' as respondents recognized a high possibility of accident onboard and, at the same time, acknowledged that seafarers can be fatigued and stressed. The second type was named as 'Dangerous, Dirty, Difficult', as seafarers' image was mainly associated to fishing vessels and not to merchant and passenger ships. The third type recognized that the social position of the seafarers was low due to 'low social recognition'. The study suggests that all three types have a negative image of seafarers' job. Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to establish various policies and marketing tools to improve the negative job image linked to seafarers by the public opinion. If the public image of seafarers can be improved and attractiveness rose, it is expected a higher number of seafarers will pursue and keep a career at sea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.321-328
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• 2019

The detection performances of the NaI(Tl), $LaBr_3$(Ce) and $CeBr_3$ scintillation detectors, which can be used to rapidly evaluate the major artificial radionuclides deposited on the soil surface in a nuclear accident or radiological emergency, were compared. Detection performance was assessed by calculating the minimum detectable activity (MDA). The detection efficiency of each detector for artificial radionuclides was semi-empirically determined using mathematical modelling and point-like sources having certified radioactivity. The background gamma-ray energy spectrum for MDA evaluation was obtained from relatively wide and flat grassland, and the MDA values of each detector for the major artificial radionuclides that could be released in nuclear accidents were calculated. As a result, the relative MDA values of each detector regarding surface deposition distribution at normal environmental radiation level were evaluated as high in the order of the NaI(Tl), $LaBr_3$(Ce), and $CeBr_3$ detectors. These results were compared based on each detector's intrinsic and measurement environment background, detection efficiency, and energy resolution for the gamma-ray energy region of the radionuclide of interest.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.57-72
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• 2022

The recent increase in international trade volume and explosive increase in cargo volume due to the non-face-to-face society are leading to an increase in risk exposure and safety accidents in the port logistics industry. Consequently, as the atmosphere and consensus on safety are spreading throughout the society, various safety laws are being enacted by the industry. Nevertheless, according to the industrial accidents status analysis by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the average annual number of injured persons increased by 11.1% and the number of deaths by 4.0% from 2015 to 2019. This means that special attention should be paid to possible future risks and preventive measures for major causes of accidents should be established. Therefore, in this study, risk assessment was conducted based on 5,028 accident cases that were reported by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency for 5 years, from 2016 to 2020, and major risk factors for each industry were derived, and then bow-tie analysis was conducted to perform the risk assessment; Further, the study aimed to derive the causes and preventive measures from the risk factors.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.4 s.48
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• pp.711-734
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• 1994

Among chemical agents in herbicides, dioxin (2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachloro dibenzo-$\rho$-dioxin : TCDD), a chemical contaminant in herbicides sprayed during the Vietnam War has been known to be the major agent causing toxic effects. Approximately 320,000 korean soldiers participated the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1974. Although the potential hazards of the herbicides among Korean veterans exposed were implicated, the problem had not been a public issue until 1991 when Korean veterans were informed U.S. companies, the herbicides manufacturer payed fund, from which a trust fund for New Zealand and Australian Class members were established in 1985. After a series of appeals and demonstration by the Korean Veterans demanding medical care and compensation for their serious health damages, a bill of medical care and compensation for herbicides victims was promulgated in March 1993 and become effective from May 1993, This study was carried out with two major objectives : the first to understand the health problems caused from the herbicides by reviewing literatures published, and the second to examine the nature and extent of health impacts among Korean veterans exposed and to develop valid study methods for the major study by interviewing and reviewing records on a part of veterans (638 persons) registered and completed medical examination in Seoul Veterans Administration Hospital from June to October 1993. The results obtained are as followings: 1. The literature review of 107 papers revealed that 1) Dioxin is teratogenic, carcinogenic and affects almost all organs including nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems in animal experiments. 2) The diseases showing evidence of causal association were Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's disease, lung cancer, lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, chloroacne and polyneuropathy when judged on the basis of consistency in study results and biological plausibility. 2. Interview and medical record review study on 638 veterans, though limited validity owing to lack of control group, crude estimates of dioxin exposure levels (no biomarkers measurable), and uncertainty of diagnosis, showed that: 1) Most of the study subject's were in their 40's of age and had been dispatched to Vietnam during the period from $1965{\sim}1970$ around one year. 2) Most frequently complained symptoms in medical examination were motor weakness (32%), sensory abnormalities in extremities (23%), skin diseases (22%), and pain in extremities (20%) whereas in Interview they were more frequent in order of skin problem (44%), motor weakness (38%), sensory abnormalities and pain in extremities(17% and 19% each). Kappa indices on the same category of complaints between two sources of information were variable and relatively low. 3) On medical examination, only a part of the 638 subjects had initial impression (442 pts) and final diagnosis (218 pts) suggesting decision making on diagnosis appeared to be difficult even with all available modern medical technologies: in initial impression disorders from peripheral and central neuropathy were predominant whereas in final diagnosis various types of skin disorder were most frequent 4) When dose-response relationship between several conditions (from questionnaire) and arbitrary exposure scores were examined by CMH linear trend test, spontaneous abortion, sexual problems and health problem of offsprings showed statistically significant linear trends. However, pregnancy, accident and suicidal attempts did not show any relationship in this study capacity. 5) Among complaints, psychosis and neurosis (anxiety, phobia) in interview study, and memory disorder and psychosis in medical record study revealed linear trend. 6) Skin disorder was the only condition showing linear trend in initial impression and none in final diagnosis on medical examination. Even though objective to select out dioxin-related disease or group of diseases from this study was not achieved the research experiences provided firm basis for developing various methodological approaches. 3. From this preliminary study we concluded that a larger scale major epidemiologic study on health impacts of herbicides among Korean veterans exposed is not only Indispensible but also well designed study with more valid exposure information and diagnosis may be able to establish causal relationship between certain groups of diseases and exposure to the herbicides among Korean veterans.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.436-445
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• 2008

Stroke is a serious disease despite recent improvements in the medical treatments available. Thirty-six stroke patients were interviewed as case and 36 non-stroke patients were interviewed as controls between February 2005 and August 2005 at Daegu S Medical Center. Information regarding the subjects' food habits was collected using the recall method from 5 years before the onset of stroke. Using interview techniques, we investigated how dietary habits and attitude influence nutrient intake. These results were analyzed by the $X^2$, Student's t-test and Chi-square test using the SPSS 12.0 program. This case-control study was performed to demonstrate the relationships among general quality factors (BMI, WHR, and family history of stroke) and lifestyle factors (smoking, exercise and alcohol drinking). The results were as follows. Analysis of the percentage of nutrient intake in terms of meal pattern showed that WHR was significantly higher in the case group than in the control group. Hypertension and diabetes were the most common preceding diseases associated with the risk of stroke. The frequencies of smoking, alcohol consumption (p<0.001) and exercise (p<0.05) were higher in the cases than in the controls. Thus, the findings of this study are consistent with those of previous studies and suggest that people should be advised to control hypertension, smoking, alcohol drinking and obesity in order to prevent the occurrence of stroke as these factors are major risk factors for stroke.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.20 no.1 s.21
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• pp.10-39
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• 1987

Mortality rate and causes of death are regarded as an index of strength as well as level of development of a country. However, there is no accurate data for the causes of death in Korea due to lack of systematic vital data collection system. The objective of this study was to define the causes of death of the school teachers, its changing pattern, cause-specific mortality rate, and geographic variation. The study population included all of the teachers in primary school, middle and high schools, and college who joined in Korean Teachers' Union between 1968 and 1985 that provided a total of 1,972, 069 person-years to observe (1,384,911 man-years, 587,158 woman-years). There were 3,678 deaths in this period (3,377 males, 301 females). The most common cause of death was neoplasm which was followed by the diseases of circulatory system. The proportion of death of neoplasm was 1.5 times higher than that of the general population. Causes of death were classified into 5 major groups (neoplasm, diseases of circulatory system, accidents and poisoning, diseases of liver, and all others). The mortality rates of diseases of circulatory system and all others for general population were 4 to S times higher than those for the teachers. However, mortality rates of neoplasm and diseases of liver were only about 2 times higher than those for teachers. Mortality rate of liver cancer for teachers was higher than gastric cancer mortality rate which is the reverse in general population. The crude death rate was 2.12 per 1,000 person-years for male and 1.00 for female which is one-third of the crude death rate of general population. Crude death rate of study population was higher in rural area than in urban area. However, mortality rate of neoplasm for male was higher in urban area than in rural area while mortality rates of all other causes were higher in rural area. For female, mortality rates of neoplasm and diseases of circulatory system were higher in urban area and the rates for all other causes were higher in rural area. Crude death rate was lowest in Gyeongin area and highest in Yeongnam area. The mortality of neoplasm for male accounted the highest proportion of all death in Gyeongin, Chungcheong and Yeoungnam areas while the mortality of neoplasm and mortality of circulatory system accounted the same proportion in Jeonra area. For female, the mortality of disease of circulatory system accounted the highest proportion in Gyeongin and Yeoungnam and Jeonra areas. Proportion of death due to accidents and poisoning was high in Chungcheong area and death due to all other causes was high in Yeoungnam area. The most common cause of death for male by city and province was neoplasm in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gyeonggi, Chungnam, Chungbuk, Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk. Diseases of circulatory system was the leading cause of death in the rest of city and provinces. The leading cause of death for female was diseases of circulatory system in Seoul, Incheon, Chungbuk, Chungnam, and Gyeongbuk, neoplasm in Busan, and accident and poisons in all other cities and provinces. The mortality rates of male were above 2 per 1,000 person-years in Jeju, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, Daegu, and Chungbuk, and it was below 1.5/l,000 in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi. The mortality rate of female was above 1.2/1,000 person-years in Gyeongnam and Incheon while it was below 0.5/l,000 in Daegu, Geonggi Chungbuk and Jeju. The leading cause for male by school of employment was neoplasm in all levels of school with a remarkably higher rate in the professors of college. Leading cause of death for female was disease of circulatory system in primary schools, high schools and college but neoplasm in middle schools. There was no death due to liver diseases in middle and high school teachers and college professors and no death due to all other category in high school teachers and college professors, in females. High school teachers and the highest mortality rate and college professors showed the lowest mortality rate. Temporal trend of mortality was examined in three periods; period I ($1968{\sim}1974$), period II ($1975{\sim}1979$), and period III ($1980{\sim}1985$). The leading cause of death for male was diseases of circulatory system in period I and II but neoplasm in period III. Such trend of decreasing diseases of circulatory system and increasing neoplasm was observed in female. Overall mortality rate was decreased over the 3 periods. The mortality rates of diseases of circulatory system, liver disease and all others were decreased in male but the mortality rates of neoplasm and accident and posions was increased. Female showed a similar trend to male but the mortality rate of liver diseases was increased. Mortality rates of diseases of circulatory system, neoplasm and liver diseases increased with age of teachers up to 50 years of age but decreased in 60 years of age. Mean age at death due to each cause was higher in male than female by $4{\sim}10$ years. However, the mean age at death of the teachers was $2{\sim}5$ years lower than that of the general population in all causes of death and the sex difference in the mean a2e at death was smaller ($2{\sim}3$ years) in general population. In sex ratio of mortality, male was higher than female in almost all diseases except suicide and maintained a high ratio. The general population showed universally high ratio in male like teachers, and more or less did regular patterns in mortality with ratio smaller.