• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.141-152
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• 2023

Objective: We performed a meta-analysis of epidemiological results for the association between occupational exposure as a firefighter and cancer as part of the broader evidence synthesis work of the IARC Monographs program. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted to identify cohort studies of firefighters followed for cancer incidence and mortality. Studies were evaluated for the influence of key biases on results. Random-effects meta-analysis models were used to estimate the association between ever-employment and duration of employment as a firefighter and risk of 12 selected cancers. The impact of bias was explored in sensitivity analyses. Results: Among the 16 included cancer incidence studies, the estimated meta-rate ratio, 95% confidence interval (CI), and heterogeneity statistic (I²) for ever-employment as a career firefighter compared mostly to general populations were 1.58 (1.14-2.20, 8%) for mesothelioma, 1.16 (1.08-1.26, 0%) for bladder cancer, 1.21 (1.12-1.32, 81%) for prostate cancer, 1.37 (1.03-1.82, 56%) for testicular cancer, 1.19 (1.07-1.32, 37%) for colon cancer, 1.36 (1.15-1.62, 83%) for melanoma, 1.12 (1.01-1.25, 0%) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 1.28 (1.02-1.61, 40%) for thyroid cancer, and 1.09 (0.92-1.29, 55%) for kidney cancer. Ever-employment as a firefighter was not positively associated with lung, nervous system, or stomach cancer. Results for mesothelioma and bladder cancer exhibited low heterogeneity and were largely robust across sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: There is epidemiological evidence to support a causal relationship between occupational exposure as a firefighter and certain cancers. Challenges persist in the body of evidence related to the quality of exposure assessment, confounding, and medical surveillance bias.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.169-177
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• 2023

Background: The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has identified cases of people suspected of suffering lung disease potentially caused by chloromethylisothiazolinone/methylisothiazolinone (CMIT/MIT) used in humidifier disinfectants (HDs). The Korean Ministry of Environment (MoE) epidemiological investigation and toxicity test study found that HDs caused health damage such as asthma and lung disease. Objectives: The main purposes of this study were to classify the HD exposure rating and to analyze the exposure characteristics that affect exposure to CMIT/MIT HDs. Methods: The exposure characteristics and socio-demographic characteristics of victim participants using CMIT/MIT HDs were investigated through questionnaires. An inhalation no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for CMIT/MIT was produced based on inhalation toxicity values. Exposure ratings (class 1~class 2) were cross-tabulated with clinical ratings (acceptable~unacceptable). A correlation analysis was conducted with the main exposure characteristics that affect the exposure concentration of CMIT/MIT HDs. Results: The concentration in indoor air of CMIT/MIT was 8.75±25.40 ㎍/m³, and the exposure concentration was 2.30±6.29 ㎍/m³. The CMIT/MIT exposure rating of 67 participants with high exposures of not more than MOE 100 were evaluated as 14.5%, while the damage participants who matched the clinical rating made up 4.5%. The exposure concentration of CMIT/MIT showed a positive correlation with the daily usage amount and usage frequency, and a negative correlation with volume of the indoor environment. Conclusions: A new exposure rating could be suggested and calculated based on the MOE, and the factors affecting the exposure concentration could be identified.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.332-337
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• 2023

Korea is not only surrounded by the sea on three sides, but also has national and local rivers extending 26,843 km, so it has a geographical feature in which abundant sea and inland water surface coexist. As the number of ships operating in the inland waters is continuously increasing due to the improvement of national income, the risk of ship accidents and human casualties in the inland waters is also increasing. In this study, a macroscopic plan for the safety management of inland water ships was presented through investigation of inland water related laws and operation status analysis. As an improvement plan, as a hardware infrastructure it is proposed to secure sufficient inland water fire-boats to secure the golden time for early response to accidents and lifesaving, and to operate an institution specializing in the prevention of inland water ships accidents. And as a software infrastructure, establish departure control standards for inland water ships and the safety diagnosis system currently applied only to sea going ships, the introduction of a system tailored to the characteristics of inland water ships. The proposed inland water safety management policy is expected to contribute to the preparation of prompt and systematic countermeasures in the event of an inland water ship accident, and it is hoped that it will serve as an opportunity to continue to pay attention to safety-related research on inland water ships, which was briefly activated after the sinking of M/V Sewol.

• Korean Journal of Health Psychology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.557-575
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• 2011

This study tried to examine the characteristics of attention deficits in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apenea(OSA) with different age levels, and to examine which indices of polysomnograms might be related to the indices of attention deficits in OSAs. Two age-level groups and a normal control group were subjected to two computerized attention tests, including a continuous performance test(CPT) and a change blindness task(CBT). In addition, the three groups were subjected to a Polysomnography to extract several sub-indicators of polysomnogram, and an Epworth Sleepiness Scale which measures subjective sleepiness. As results, the OSAs showed significantly more omission and commission errors in CPT, and they showed lower accuracy in CBT compared to the normal group. The results of a correlational analysis showed that attention deficits in OSA are significantly correlated with arterial oxygen saturation among sub-indicators of polysomnograms. In conclusion, OSAs seems to be less attentive, having difficulties in response inhibition, and having deficiencies in noticing important environmental changes. Age seems to make these deficiencies even worse. Especially, the relationship between attention deficiency and hypoxia which could cause irreversible cerebrum damage has an implication in cognitive impairment prevention through early treatment.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.231-240
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• 2019

The study aimed to identify risk factors for falls as well as hospitalization status according to disease and demographic characteristics of demented inpatients by investigating the in-depth Injury Patient Surveillance System data collected by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC). Older adults over 60 years old who were diagnosed with dementia were included(n=1,732). Their data were analyzed after being assigned to either a fall group or a non-fall group. STATA was used for statistical analyses, such as frequency analysis, chi-square (χ²) test, and logistics regression. It was found that 8.0% of the demented inpatients experienced falls. According to the analysis on category of fall and non-fall group were statistically significant difference in age and Charlson Comorbidity Index(CCI) and bone density deficiency. Based on the logistic regression analysis of factors affecting falls, older adults over 80 are 2.386 times more likely to fall and based on a target with a CCI of 0, the risk of falls is 0.421 times lower, finally based on those without bone density disorder, the fall risk for those with bone density disorder was 3.581 times higher. Therefore, we expect that the important about the factors relating to falls identified in this can not only be found valuable for educating inpatients with dementia and care-givers, but also be used as reference that supports clinical professionals to make decisions on falls management for patients with dementia.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.89-98
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• 2019

The aim of this study was to evaluate the change of phenolic compounds after bordeaux mixture treatment on Cheorwon onion. Onion is a perennial plant belonging to the lily family. It is native to Persia of Southwest Asia. It is cultivated much in the temperate regions of the world. Onion is a good name for the 'Okchong' to drop blood cholesterol and cardiovascular blood flow to increase the prevention of adult diseases. Cheorwon area is inland, but it has high continental climate due to its high altitude. After the treatment with bordeaux mixture, the weight, width and plant height of the onion were affected to some extent. In the phenolic compounds, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, rutin, and kaempferol except benzoic acid, p-coumaric acid and quercetin were similar to or less than the control. Therefore, it was concluded that the treatment with bordeaux mixture had some effect on onion growth and phenolic compound contents.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.105-114
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to evaluate the change of phenolic compounds after phosphite treatment on Cheorwon onion. Onion is a perennial plant belonging to the lily family. It is native to Persia of Southwest Asia. It is widely cultivated in the temperate regions of the world. Onion is a good name for the 'Okchong' to drop blood cholesterol and cardiovascular blood flow to increase the prevention of adult diseases. Cheorwon area is inland, but it has high continental climate due to its high altitude. Therefore it is said that the onion cultivated in this region has higher sugar content and higher taste than onion grown in the southern region. Phosphorus components are particularly important ingredients for promoting muscle development. However, if the phosphoric acid content of the soil part is maintained to a large extent until the harvest, the competition of the nutrients tends to cause decay of the root part. Therefore, it is important to improve the quality and shelf life of onion by inducing nutrient balance by applying foliar fertilization method on the reducing phosphorus at harvest time. In this study, acidity was controlled by diluting phosphorous acid(H₃PO₃) and potassium hydroxide(KOH), followed by leaf surface treatment with phosphite on onion. In this study, the concentration of phosphite was diluted to 500, 1,000, 1,500ppm and sprayed three times over the onion leaves in May 2018 using an atomizer and harvested at the end of June, and the phenolic compounds were analyzed by HPLC. As a result, the content of quercetin, one of the important substances in onion, was phosphite 500ppm(179.70㎍/g), 1,000(150.27), 1,500(105.95). The contents of caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, rutin, kaempferol, and sugar content were higher in the treatments than in the control. Therefore, the phosphite does not have a great influence on the growth, but it may play a role as a method of achieving balance with nitrogen in the rainy season by supplying the role of the material catalyst and the water soluble phosphoric acid and the potassium in the influence of the material change.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.343-350
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• 2023

Objectives: Water constitutes a majority of the human body and is essential for health. In addition, water intake can prevent dental caries by improving salivary lubrication and self-cleaning. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the amount of daily water intake and the symptoms of oral disease in Korean adolescents. Methods: We used data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS), conducted in Korea in 2021, and identified the relationship between daily water intake and oral disease symptoms in Korean adolescents. KYRBS is a nationwide cross-sectional survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), and a total of 54,848 participants were included in this study. Results: After adjusting for confounding factors, logistic regression analysis showed that tooth pain was more often experienced by those who drank less than two cups of water per day (odds ratio [OR]: 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.30) than those who drank five or more cups of water per day. Conclusions: A low daily water intake is associated with tooth pain, a symptom of dental caries. The results of our study suggest that increasing water intake may reduce dental caries. Therefore, adequate water intake may help prevent dental caries.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.343-353
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• 2023

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in the lifestyle patterns of children and affected the patterns of pediatric injuries. This study analyzed the changing patterns of pediatric injury overall and by age groups, based on the datasets before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study is based on the data of patients who presented with injuries at 23 hospital emergency departments participating in the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The surveillance data was categorized by injury mechanism, location, activity, and severity. We analyzed the injury patterns of pediatric patients aged 0 to 15 years. Subgroup analysis was conducted by age group in children aged 7 to 15 years, 1 to 6 years, and <1 year. Results: When comparing the COVID-19 pandemic period to the pre-COVID-19 period, the total number of pediatric patients with injuries decreased by 38.7%, while the proportions of in-home injuries (57.9% vs. 67.9%), and minor injuries (38.9% vs. 39.7%) increased. In the 7 to 15 years group, bicycle riding injuries (50.9% vs. 65.6%) and personal mobility device injuries (2.4% vs. 4.6%) increased. The 1 to 6 years group also showed an increase in bicycle accident injuries (15.8% vs. 22.4%). In the <1 year group, injuries from falls increased (44.5% vs. 49.9%). Self-harm injuries in the 7 to 15 years group also increased (1.6% vs. 2.8%). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic period, the overall number of pediatric injuries decreased, while injuries occurring at home and during indoor activities increased. Traffic accidents involving bicycles and personal mobility devices and self-harm injuries increased in the 7 to 15 years group. In the <1 year group, the incidence of falls increased. Medical and societal preparedness is needed so that we might anticipate these changes in the patterns of pediatric injuries during future infectious disease pandemics.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.791-796
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• 2023

It is well known that any kind of physical activity can be a useful nonpharmacological tool in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, including antihypertension. There is also strong evidence that suggests that people with cardiovascular disease are less active than healthy people. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a 12-week walking exercise intervention program on body composition, insulin resistance, and blood pressure in obese elderly women with stage 1 hypertension. The walking exercise program was performed for 50 min, three times per week. The intensity progressively increased: RPE 11 to 12, 40-50% HRR, for weeks 1-4; RPE 12 to 13, 50-60% HRR, for weeks 5-8; and RPE 13 to 14, 60-65% HRR, for weeks 9-12. The subjects were 20 obese elderly women with stage 1 hypertension (SBP: 140-159 mmHg or DBP: 90-99 mmHg). Half were placed in the walking exercise group (EX, n=10), and half were placed in the control group (CON, n=10). At the end of the program, the EX group members had significantly lower body fat, insulin resistance, and SBP compared to the CON group members. These results suggest that undertaking a 12-week walking exercise program improves body fat, insulin resistance, and SBP, which may improve the incidence of metabolic disease in elderly obese women with stage 1 hypertension.