• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.229-238
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• 2006

Although, mercury (Hg) is not a naturally abundant element in the environment, residues frequently occur in many environmental compartments because of widespread contamination from industrial and agricultural practices. This research evaluated Hg-B concentrations of general population who was not occupationally exposed. And also evaluates the association between life factor and health effect with Hg-B concentration of general adult through interrelationship estimation and index about kidney function and oxidative damage that appeared by questionnaire survey and medical examination. Average concentration of Hg-B was 3.19 $\mu$g/L (ND$\sim$8.64 $\mu$g/L), and persons who exceed mercury exposure level (5 $\mu$g/L) presented in WHO (1990) appeared by 16 (7.0%). High-risk group (smoking and meat main intake group) had significantly higher Hg-B concentration than low-risk group (non-smoking and vegetable diet main intake group) (p < 0.05, low-risk group: 3.30 $\mu$g/L (ND$\sim$8.64 $\mu$g/L), high-risk group: 4.27 $\mu$g/L (ND$\sim$7.84 $\mu$g/L).

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.259-268
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• 1998

It has been reported that among mushroom farmers, respiratory diseases such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis can be developed by inhalation of mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) spores. For the evaluation of respiratory symptoms among mushroom farmers, a questionnaire was made. The Questionnaire included general characteristics, past occupational histories, durations of the mushroom cultivation and characteristics of the symptoms. Following the questionnaire we interviewed the 72 mushroom farmers (12 males, 10 females) from Kyungbuk Province. We also examined white blood counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rates, eosinophil counts and total IgE counts for the 5 farmers. The results obtained are as follows. 1. The mean age among the 22 mushroom farmers was 46.9 years, and the mean duration of cultivation was 7.5 years. 2. Among the 22 mushroom farmers. 18 farmers (81.8 %) suffered from respiratory symptoms at work. The main symptom was coughing (100.0%), followed by chilling sensation (50.0 %), sputum (38.9 %) and sore throat (27.8 %). 3. Coughing and other associated symptoms occurred during work and disappeared after work or several days later when the exposure had been stopped. 4. Total IgE counts were elevated in all farmers examined the test. With above results, the respiratory symptoms that developed among mushroom farmers were typical patterns of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Epidemiological studies and preventive measures for mushroom farmers should be established.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.123-128
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• 2011

The notion that dental amalgam is a potential source of mercury exposure remains a controversial issue. However, there are few epidemiological analyses that have addressed whether this occurs in children. We aimed in our current study to identify the relationship between dental amalgam filling surfaces and the blood mercury levels in a cohort of 711 South Korean children aged between 8-9 years. Oral examinations were conducted to detect the number of amalgam filling surfaces on the teeth of these individuals. Blood samples were also taken from these children to assess the levels of mercury accumulation in the body. The amalgam filling surfaces were classified into four groups based on their number: 0 (n = 368), 1-5 (n = 219), 6-10 (n = 89), and 11+ (n = 35). The blood mercury levels in the children with more than 10 amalgam surfaces was 0.47 ${\mu}g$/L higher on average than those with no amalgam surfaces after adjusting for the frequency of fish or seafood consumption, age, and gender (P < 0.05). We found from our data that a higher number of dental amalgam fillings correlated with a higher blood mercury level in Korean children. Further studies are needed to investigate whether these elevated mercury levels exert neurotoxic or nephrotoxic effects.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.55-66
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• 2015

In the perspective of industrial health management, it is important for the employee to decrease their job stress, to improve their productivity and quality of labor. In this study, the job stress, and it's influence on PWI(Psychosocial Wellbeing Index) were investigated by the questionnaire survey of 138 industrial workers who had studied assistive technology in college. The contents of questionnaire consist of the demographic characteristics, job-related characteristics, job stress and psycho-social stress. We evaluated job stress by KOSS-SF(Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Sort Form) and psychosocial stress by PWI-SF(Psychosocial Well-being Index-Short Form). To analyze the results, we evaluated the exposure level of KOSS and PWI by demographic characteristics and job-related characteristics using significance tests. Also, we estimated the relationship among demographic characteristics, job-related characteristics, job stress and psychosocial stress, using correlation analysis. As a results, all workers were found to be in a group under the high risky stress. It showed that the scale index of female's job non-autonomy and pwi were much larger than those of male's. Therefore, to guarantee job autonomy of female workers should be more emphasized, to improve their working environment. Job type had significant relationships with many job stress category; physical environment, job demand, job instability and organization culture. Regarding pwi, the scale index of the workers who is in charge of the civil service such as contacting the disabled and the aged in person, were much larger than that of the other workers. Accordingly, the job stress management program including physical environment, job demand, job instability and organization culture, should be suggested, to decrease the stress of the workers in charge of the disabled and the elders service. The strongest predictors of pwi was organization system through maximum positive relations between organization system and pwi. Therefore, it indicates that improvement of organization system such as a fair merit rating, a manpower supply, demand plan and department cooperation is urgently needed to reduce pwi.

• 구강회복응용과학지
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.239-245
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• 2003

The occurrence and pattern of tooth wear are related to cultural, dietary, occupational, and geographic factors, Excessive occlusal wear can result in pulpal exposure, occlusal disharmony, functional inability. Surface loss can be differentiated into 3 general causal categories: i) mechanical loss, which includes attrition, ii) abrasion chemical loss including erosion, and finally iii) a proposed biomechanical category described as abfraction. Considering that mechanical wear is frequently asymptomatic, patients may have parafunctional habit. Structured clinical decision analysis in fixed prosthodontics, as other branches of dentistry do, allows the practitioner to consider the patient's problems more thoroughly based on the clinical data and extenuation factors. This discipline of decision making is intended to complement the experience level and educational background of the clinician in assisting the patient through the decision process. Additionally, CDA helps the clinician define not only the pre-existing condition of the patient prior to irreversible therapy, but also better treatment strategies for the patient over an extended period. The systematic nature of decision analysis stimulates the dentists to pay further attention to those factors, which is germane to the overall complexity of the case, and exclude factors, which have little influence on its final outcome. Further implementation of computerized databases, procedural outcome probabilities based on clinical and laboratory studies and the clinical experience of those who use it, may provide quite a promising future in the field of structured and formalized clinical decision analysis.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.185-189
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• 2011

Objectives: In 1995, an outbreak survey in Gozan-dong concluded that an association between fiberglass exposure in drinking water and cancer outbreak cannot be established. This study follows the subjects from a study in 1995 using a data linkage method to examine whether an association existed. The authors will address the potential benefits and methodological issues following outbreak surveys using data linkage, particularly when informed consent is absent. Methods: This is a follow-up study of 697 (30 exposed) individuals out of the original 888 (31 exposed) participants (78.5%) from 1995 to 2007 assessing the cancer outcomes and deaths of these individuals. The National Cancer Registry (KNCR) and death certificate data were linked using the ID numbers of the participants. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and standardized mortality ratio (SMR) from cancers were calculated by the KNCR. Results: The SIR values for all cancer or gastrointestinal cancer (GI) occurrences were the lowest in the exposed group (SIR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.10 to 5.21; 0.00 for GI), while the two control groups (control 1: external, control 2: internal) showed slight increases in their SIR values (SIR, 1.18 and 1.27 for all cancers; 1.62 and 1.46 for GI). All lacked statistical significance. All-cause mortality levels for the three groups showed the same pattern (SMR 0.37, 1.29, and 1.11). Conclusions: This study did not refute a finding of non-association with a 13-year follow-up. Considering that many outbreak surveys are associated with a small sample size and a cross-sectional design, follow-up studies that utilize data linkage should become standard procedure.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2007

This study accomplished to grasp the present condition of HAPs and to examine efficiently carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health effects through health risk assessment in new apartments from June, 2004 to May,2005. Moreover, we performed uncertainty analysis by Monte-Carlo analysis to control uncertainty of exposure factors. The major results obtained from this study were as follows. Firstly, cancer risk of formaldehyde for male was $1.67{\times}10^{-5}$ in CTE in point estimation. Cancer risk of formaldehyde was showed $2.94{\times}10^{-3}$ in RME that applied worst case used results of 95 percentile in point estimation. It exceeds $10^{-6}$ of guide line in US EPA. Moreover, cancer risks of formaldehyde for female were $3.98{\times}10^{-5}$ in CTE and $3.93{\times}10^{-3}$ RME. Secondly, every hazard index for non-carcinogenic pollutants was less than 1 of permitted standards in CTE. However, in RME of male, hazard indexes of 1,2-Dichloropropane and Toluene were 1.3 and 2.0, respectively. Hazard indexes of 1,2-Dichloropropane and Totuene for female in RME were 1.7 and 2.6, respectively.

• 한국정보전자통신기술학회논문지
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.267-276
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• 2020

제조업 근로자는 근무 환경에서 반복 작업에 의한 근골격계 질환의 위험에 쉽게 노출되어 있다. 이는 신체를 반복적으로 이용하는 직업 특성상의 문제에 기인한다. 하지만 현재 감시 및 예방을 위한 모니터링 시스템이 제공되지 않아 매년 위험에 대한 근로자의 노출도가 증가하고 있다. 본 논문에서는 IMU 센서를 사용한 웨어러블 장치 제작을 통해 실제 작업 환경에서의 이러한 문제를 해결하는 방법에 대해 제시한다. 웨어러블 형태의 장치를 착용 후, 근골격계 움직임에 따른 회전 값을 받아와 데이터 분석을 통해 사용자의 움직임을 판단해낸다. 이때, 바이어스 제거와 누적 오차를 제거해 정교한 데이터 취득하여 이를 동적 임곗값 형식으로 분석하여 사용자의 회전 운동 횟수를 측정해내어 위험도를 판단한다. 본 논문에서 제안한 웨어러블 장치를 이용 팔꿈치 근골격계 질환에 대한 회전 횟수를 측정하는 웹 페이지를 통해 본 방법의 효과를 확인할 수 있었다.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.19-25
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Cadmium is a toxic metal that is an occupational and environmental concern especially because of its human carcinogenicity; it induces serious adverse effects in various organs and tissues. Even low levels of exposure to cadmium could be harmful owing to its extremely long half-life in the body. Cadmium intoxication may be prevented by the consumption of dietary components that potentially reduce its accumulation in the body. Dietary chitosan is a polysaccharide derived from animal sources; it has been known for its ability to bind to divalent cations including cadmium, in addition to other beneficial effects including hypocholesterolemic and anticancer effects. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of dietary chitosan in reducing cadmium accumulation using an in vivo system. MATERIALS/METHODS: Cadmium was administered orally at 2 mg (three times per week) to three groups of Sprague-Dawley rats: control, low-dose, and high-dose (0, 3, and 5%, respectively) chitosan diet groups for eight weeks. Cadmium accumulation, as well as tissue functional and histological changes, was determined. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, rats fed the chitosan diet showed significantly lower levels of cadmium in blood and tissues including the kidneys, liver, and femur. Biochemical analysis of liver function including the determination of aspartate aminotransferase and total bilirubin levels showed that dietary chitosan reduced hepatic tissue damage caused by cadmium intoxication and prevented the associated bone disorder. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that dietary chitosan has the potential to reduce cadmium accumulation in the body as well as protect liver function and bone health against cadmium intoxication.

• 사회복지연구
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• 제43권1호
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• pp.249-273
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• 2012

본 연구는 응급구조원, 사상 사고를 경험한 지하철승무원, 아동보호전문기관 사회복지사를 대상으로 직종, 심리적 고통, 대리 외상, 일반적 특성에 따른 외상 후 성장을 비교 분석한 연구이다. 분석 결과 첫째, 대리 외상은 세 집단 모두 위험 수준으로 높게 나타났고 특히 지하철승무원의 대리 외상이 높았으며, 외상 후 성장은 사회복지사가 가장 높고 지하철승무원이 가장 낮았다. 둘째, 대리 외상과 외상 후 성장은 상관관계가 유의한 것으로 나타났으며 특히 침습과 회피의 하위항목이 외상 후 성장과 상관관계가 높았다. 셋째, 외상 후 성장에 영향을 미치는 요인은 직종, 침습, 회피, 종교, 성별의 순서로 크게 나타났다. 본 연구에서는 이 결과를 바탕으로 대리 외상 위험 직종에 대한 정신건강서비스 제공과 외상 후 성장의 치료적 적용을 제언하였다.