• The Journal of KAIRB
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.5-16
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• 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status of pediatric assent in nationwide hospitals and to assess the children's comprehension for pediatric assent by interviewing pediatricians/pediatric neurologists to determine whether children of the age (elementary and middle school students) can understand the purpose, risks, benefits, and concepts of voluntary participation in clinical research described in the assent form, and to help improve the administrative efficiency of multicenter clinical trials. Methods: The status of pediatric assent was surveyed online using Google Forms at 141 university hospitals with administrative staff who are members of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) administrative staff subcommittee with in Korean Association of Institutional Review Boards (KAIRB). Additionally, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 7 pediatricians/pediatric neurologists. Survey and interview responses were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results: Out of the 141 institutions surveyed, 35 institutions (24.8%) responded. Among them, 30 institutions (85.7%) reported having age criteria for acquiring pediatric assent forms in the case of children. The age range for pediatric assent acquisition have been from 7 years old to 12 years old (15 institutions, 50%), and from 7 years old to 15 years old (7 institutions, 23.3%). Nine institutions (25.7%) have had criteria for obtaining both parents' consent in cases involving the participation of children. Nineteen institutions (54.3%) have had checklists or guidelines available for use by IRB members in study protocols involving vulnerable research subjects. Three pediatricians/pediatric neurologists have believed that upper-grade elementary school students (5th-6th grade) could comprehensively understand informed consent forms. Two have believed that middle school students would be able to understand them if they included personal information. Two pediatricians/pediatric neurologists have believed that even lower-grade elementary school students (1st-4th grade) could understand the explanations if they were made simpler. Conclusion: It is suggested that not only elementary school students (7-12 years old) but also middle school students (13-15 years old) should receive pediatric assent forms, as it would facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the forms. To enhance the comprehension of assent form content, it is necessary to use age-appropriate words, language, and expressions in the forms hospital. It is also recommended to create comics or videos to make the content of the assent forms more accessible for children.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.26-34
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• 2024

In this study, the food service management levels of cafeterias in childcare facilities were investigated based on the number of meal recipients and the working status of the kitchen staff. The study included 199 childcare facilities nationwide that received food supplies from the food ingredients distribution company, Pulmuone Foodmerce, from 2021 to 2022. The assessment was conducted using 61 inspection items. The analysis revealed that, as the number of meal recipients and kitchen staff members decreased, the documentation of inspection results was less likely to be conducted (P<0.05). Facilities with fewer meal recipients showed less adequate health status checks for kitchen staff, and those with fewer kitchen staff showed insufficient compliance with hygienic clothing (P<0.05). Additionally, facilities with fewer meal recipients showed a higher frequency of lapses in checking the expiration dates of stored ingredients (P<0.05), requiring increased management attention. They also exhibited the absence of internal temperature measurement records during heating processes (P<0.05). Furthermore, facilities with fewer meal recipients demonstrated inadequate maintenance of kitchen facilities (P<0.05). Significantly higher adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels were detected on the hands and cutting boards of the kitchen staff in facilities with fewer meal recipients and fewer kitchen staff (P>0.05). Overall, facilities with fewer meal recipients exhibited insufficient infrastructure management for kitchen operations and inadequate hygiene management. These results are expected to provide foundational data for the selection of national support programs for childcare facilities in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.230-245
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• 2024

Amphibians, sensitive to external environmental changes, serve as bioindicator species for assessing alterations or disturbances in local ecosystems. It is known that one-third of amphibian species within the order Anura are at risk of extinction due to anthropogenic threats such as habitat destruction and fragmentation caused by urbanization. To develop effective protection and conservation strategies for anuran amphibians, species surveys that account for population characteristics are essential. This study aimed to investigate the potential for citizen participation in ecological monitoring using the mating calls of anura species. We also proposed suitable quality control measures to mitigate errors and biases, ensuring the extraction of reliable species occurrence data. The Citizen Science project was carried out nationwide from April 1 to August 31, 2022, targeting 12 species of anura amphibians in Korea. Citizens voluntarily participated in voice signal monitoring, where they listened to anura species' mating calls and recorded them using a mobile application. Additionally, we established a quality control process to extract reliable species occurrence data, categorizing errors and biases from citizen-collected data into three levels: omission, commission, and incorrect identification. A total of 6,808 observations were collected during the citizen participation in anura species vocalization monitoring. Through the quality control process, errors and biases were identified in 1,944 (28.55%) of the 6,808 data. The most common type of error was omission, accounting for 922 cases (47.43%), followed by incorrect identification with 540 cases (27.78%), and commission with 482 cases (24.79%). During the Citizen Science project, we successfully recorded the mating calls of 10 out of the 12 anuran amphibian species in Korea, excluding the Asian toads (Bufo gargarizans Cantor), Korean brown frog (Rana coreana). Difficulties in collecting mating calls were primarily attributed to challenges in observing due to population decline or discrepancies between the breeding season of non-emergent individuals and the timing of the citizen science project. This study represents the first investigation of distribution status and species emergence data collection through mating calls of anura species in Korea based on citizen participation. It can serve as a foundation for designing future bioacoustic monitoring that incorporates citizen science and quality control measures for citizen science data.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2007

[ $\underline{Purpose}$ ]: To determine the patterns of evaluation and treatment in patients with breast cancer after mastectomy and treated with radiotherapy. A nationwide study was performed with the goal of improving radiotherapy treatment. $\underline{Materials\;and\;Methods}$: A web- based database system for the Korean Patterns of Care Study (PCS) for 6 common cancers was developed. Randomly selected records of 286 eligible patients treated between 1998 and 1999 from 17 hospitals were reviewed. $\underline{Results}$: The ages of the study patients ranged from 20 to 80 years (median age 44 years). The pathologic T stage by the AJCC was T1 in 9.7% of the cases, T2 in 59.2% of the cases, T3 in 25.6% of the cases, and T4 in 5.3% of the cases. For analysis of nodal involvement, N0 was 7.3%, N1 was 14%, N2 was 38.8%, and N3 was 38.5% of the cases. The AJCC stage was stage I in 0.7% of the cases, stage IIa in 3.8% of the cases, stage IIb in 9.8% of the cases, stage IIIa in 43% of the cases, stage IIIb in 2.8% of the cases, and IIIc in 38.5% of the cases. There were various sequences of chemotherapy and radiotherapy after mastectomy. Mastectomy and chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy was the most commonly performed sequence in 47% of the cases. Mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy followed by additional chemotherapy was performed in 35% of the cases, and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy was performed in 12.5% of the cases. The radiotherapy volume was chest wall only in 5.6% of the cases. The volume was chest wall and supraclavicular fossa (SCL) in 20.3% of the cases; chest wall, SCL and internal mammary lymph node (IMN) in 27.6% of the cases; chest wall, SCL and posterior axillary lymph node in 25.9% of the cases; chest wall, SCL, IMN, and posterior axillary lymph node in 19.9% of the cases. Two patients received IMN only. The method of chest wall irradiation was tangential field in 57.3% of the cases and electron beam in 42% of the cases. A bolus for the chest wall was used in 54.8% of the tangential field cases and 52.5% of the electron beam cases. The radiation dose to the chest wall was $45{\sim}59.4\;Gy$ (median 50.4 Gy), to the SCL was $45{\sim}59.4\;Gy$ (median 50.4 Gy), and to the PAB was $4.8{\sim}38.8\;Gy$, (median 9 Gy) $\underline{Conclusion}$: Different and various treatment methods were used for radiotherapy of the breast cancer patients after mastectomy in each hospital. Most of treatment methods varied in the irradiation of the chest wall. A separate analysis for the details of radiotherapy planning also needs to be followed and the outcome of treatment is needed in order to evaluate the different processes.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.22-31
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• 2005

Purpose : To conduct a nationwide survey on the principals in radiotherapy for rectal cancer, and produce a database of Korean Patterns of Care Study. Materials and Methods : We developed web-based Patterns of Care Study system and a national survey was conducted using random sampling based on power allocation methods. Eligible patients were who had postoperative radiotherapy for rectal cancer without gross residual tumor after surgical resection and without previous history of other cancer and radiotherapy to pelvis. Data of patients were Inputted to the web based PCS system by each investigators in 19 institutions. Results : Informations on 309 patients with rectal cancer who received radiotherapy between 1998 and 1999 were collected. Male to female ratio was 59 : 41, and the most common location of tumor was lower rectum ($46\%$). Preoperative CEA was checked in $79\%$ of cases and its value was higher than 6 ng/ml in $32\%$. Pathologic stage were I in $1.5\%$, II in $32\%$, III in $53\%$, and IV in $1.6\%$. Low anterior resection was the most common type of surgery and complete resection was peformed in $95\%$ of cases. Distal resection margin was less than 2 cm in $30\%$, and number of lymph node dissected was less than 12 in $31\%$. Chemotherapy was peformed in $91\%$ and most common regimen was 5-FU and leucovorine ($59\%$). The most common type of field arrangement used for the initial pelvic field was the four field box (Posterior-Right-Left) technique ($65.0\%$), and there was no AP-PA parallel opposing field used. Patient position was prone in $81.2\%$, and the boost field was used in $61.8\%$. To displace bowel outward, pressure modulating devices or bladder filling was used in $40.1\%$. Radiation dose was prescribed to isocenter in $45.3\%$ and to isodose line in 123 cases ($39.8\%$). Percent delivered dose over $90\%$ was achieved in $92.9\%$. Conclusion : We could find the Patterns of Care for the radiotherapy in Korean rectal cancer patients was similar to that of US national survey. The type of surgery and the regimen of chemotherapy were variable according to institutions and the variations of radiation dose and field arrangement were within acceptable range.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.371-377
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• 2013

The government has been carrying out a project for supporting the rain shelter for hot pepper as part of measures stabilizing the demand and supply of hot pepper since 2012. However, the eaves height of single-span plastic greenhouses extensively used in farms is low, which are inappropriate for the rainproof cultivation of hot pepper. This study attempted to develop single-span plastic greenhouses which are structurally safe and have the dimensions suitable for the rainproof cultivation of hot pepper as well. The structure status of plastic greenhouses and restructuring wishes of 56 rainproof cultivation farms nationwide were investigated to set up the width and height of the plastic greenhouses. 53% of the plastic greenhouses currently in operation had a width of under 7 m and 64% of their eaves had a height of 1.5 m or less, which accounted for the highest rate. Mostly the width of 7.0 m was desired for the greenhouses and the height of 2.0 m for their eaves, so these values were chosen as the dimensions for the singlespan plastic greenhouses. After an analysis of their structural safety while changing the specifications of the rafter pipe in various ways, 5 kinds of models were suggested considering the frame ratio and installation costs. The 12-Pepper-1 model is a developed single-span plastic greenhouse for hot pepper in which a ${\emptyset}42.2{\times}2.1t$ rafter pipe is installed at an interval of 90cm and the models of 12-Pepper-2 through 5 are the other developed ones in which a ${\emptyset}31.8{\times}1.5t$ rafter pipe is installed at intervals of 60 cm, 70 cm, 80 cm and 90 cm, respectively. As a result of an analysis of economic feasibility of 12-Pepper-2 compared to 10-Single-3 in the notification of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, it turned out that there would be an increase in profits by about 1.2 million won based on one building of a greenhouse sized 672 $m^2$.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.285-296
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• 2020

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics of exposure to humidifier disinfectants (HDs) and their association with the presence of a person who experienced the adverse health effects in general households in Korea. Methods: During the month of December 2016, a nationwide online survey was conducted on adults over 20 years of age who had experience of using HDs. It provided information on exposure characteristics and the experience of health effects. The final survey respondents consisted of 1,555 people who provided information on themselves and their household members during the use of HD. Exposure characteristics at the household level included average days of HD use per week, average hours of HD use per day, the duration within which one bottle of HD was emptied, average input frequency of HD, amount of HD (cc) per one time used, and active ingredients of HD products (PHMG, CMIT/MIT, PGH, or others). The risk of the presence of a person who experienced adverse health effects in the household was evaluated by estimating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for monthly income and region using a multiple logistic regression model. Subgroup analyses were conducted for households with a child (≤7 years) and households with a newborn infant during HD use. Results: The level of exposure to HD tended to be higher for households with a child or newborn infant for several variables including average days of HD use per week (P<0.0001) and average hours of HD use per day (P<0.0001). The proportion of households in which there was at least one person who experienced adverse health effects such as rhinitis, asthma, pneumonia, atopy/skin disease, etc. was 20.6% for all households, 25.3% for households with children, and 29.9% for households with newborn infants. The presence of a person who experienced adverse health effects in the household was significantly associated with average hours of HD use per day (P_trend<0.001), duration within which one bottle of HD was emptied (P_trend<0.001), average input frequency of HD (P_trend<0.001), amount of HD per one use (P_trend=0.01), and use of HDs containing PHMG (OR=2.23, 95% CI=1.45-3.43). Similar results were observed in subgroup analyses. Conclusion: Our results suggest that level of exposure to HD tended to be higher for households with a child or newborn infant and that exposure to HD is significantly associated with the presence of a person who experienced adverse health effects in the household.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.160-170
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to perform clustering of the habitat types and to identify the characteristics of species in the habitat types using mammal data (70,562) of the 3rd National Ecosystem Survey conducted from 2006 to 2012. The 15 habitat types recorded in the field-paper of the 3rd National ecosystem survey were reclassified, which was followed by the statistical analysis of mammal habitat types. In the habitat types cluster analysis, non-hierarchical cluster analysis (k-means cluster analysis), hierarchical cluster analysis, and non-metric multidimensional scaling method were applied to 14 habitat types recorded more than 30 times. A total of 7 Orders, 16 Families, and 39 Species of mammals were identified in the 3rd National Ecosystem Survey collected nationwide. When 11 clusters were classified by habitat types, the simple structure index was the highest (ssi = 0.07). As a result of the similarities and hierarchies between habitat types suggested by the hierarchical clustering analysis, the residential areas were the most different habitat types for mammals; the next following type was a cluster together with rivers and coasts. The results of the non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis demonstrated that both Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus restrictively appeared in a residential area, which is the most discriminating habitat type. Lutra lutra restrictively appeared in coastal and river areas. In summary, according to our results, the mammalian habitat can be divided into the following four types: (1) the forest type (using forest as the main habitat and migration route); (2) the river type (using water as the main habitat); (3) the residence habitat (living near residential area); and (4) the lowland type (consuming grain or seeds as the main feeding resource).

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.88-100
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• 2018

Methane emissions from rice paddies are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the agricultural sector, but there are significant regional differences depending on the surrounding conditions and cultivation practices. To visualize these differences and to analyze their causes and characteristics, the methane emissions from each administrative district in South Korea were calculated according to the IPCC guidelines using the data from the 2010 Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Census, and then the results were mapped by using the ArcGIS. The nationwide average of methane emissions per unit area was $380{\pm}74kg\;CH_4\;ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$. The western region showed a trend toward higher values than the eastern region. One of the major causes resulting in such regional differences was the $SF_o$ (scaling factor associated with the application of organic matter), where the number of cultivation days played an important role to either offset or deepen the differences. Comparison of our results against the actual methane emissions data observed by eddy covariance flux measurement in the three KoFlux rice paddy sites in Gimje, Haenam and Cheorwon showed some differences but encouraging results with a difference of 10 % or less depending on the sites and years. Using the updated GWP (global warming potential) value of 28, the national total methane emission in 2010 was estimated to be $8,742,000tons\;CO_2eq$ - 13% lower than that of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report (i.e., $10,048,000tons\;CO_2eq$). The administrative districts-based map of methane emissions developed in this study can help identify the regional differences, and the analysis of their key controlling factors will provide important scientific basis for the practical policy makings for methane mitigation.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.78-84
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• 2004

In order Nuruk to improve the quality of millet wine, a traditional Jeju cereal wine, yeasts and molds were isolated from 35 kinds of Nuruk collected nationwide. Isolated strains were screened for saccharification of starch and brewing of millet wine. Fermentation characteristics of millet wine with different types of Nuruk were also investigated. The average number of microbial populations in the Nuruk were $6.4{\times}10^5{\sim}4.5{\times}10^7\;cfu/g$ for molds and $1.4{\times}10^4{\sim}7.7{\times}10^7\;cfu/g$ for yeasts. Among the 169 strains of molds and 103 strains of yeasts, 16 strains were screened for saccharifying activity on starch as a substrate, and one yeast strain was screened for the brewing of millet wine. A8-3, supposed as Aspergillus sp., showed the highest enzyme activities of glucdamylase, ${\alpha}-amylase$ and xylanase while B23-3 strain, supposed as Rhizopus sp., showed the highest saccharifying activity. A10-4, supposed as Saccharomyces sp., showed the highest level of weight loss from $CO_2$ evolution, sugar and alcohol tolerance during fermentation. When the Nuruk was made after inoculation with the selected strains, saccharifying activity was higher for the co-cultivation of A8-3 and B23-3 than individual cultivation of each strain. Similar saccharifying activities were shown in both disc-type and pellet-type Nuruk. It was suggested that pellet-type Nuruk could improve fermentation yield. The collected Nuruk consisted of $10{\sim}13%$ moisture, $55{\sim}70%$ total sugar, $10{\sim}18%$ crude protein, $0.2{\sim}1.0%$ crude fat and $1.8{\sim}2.1%$ ash. The Nuruk made in this study was composed of $12{\sim}15%$ moisture, $61{\sim}71%$ total sugar, $15{\sim}20%$ crude protein, $0.4{\sim}1.5%$ crude fat and $1.1{\sim}1.5%$ ash.