• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.580-589
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the food insecurity status and dietary behavior and examine the association between the food insecurity status and consumption of processed beverage for secondary school students in Vientiane, capital city of Lao PDR. Methods: The study subjects are 714 students (boys = 307 and girls = 407) in four secondary schools (Chao_Anouvong, Phiavat, Saysetha, and Chansavang) of Vientiane, Lao PDR. Data on study subject's demographic characteristics, dietary behavior, food insecurity, and Mini Dietary Assessment (MDA) index were collected. A "Self-Administered Food Security Survey Module for Children Aged 12 Years and Older" developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was used for the food insecurity assessment. Results: As a result, 72.7% of the subjects were in a state of food insecurity, and food security was associated with higher socioeconomic status (higher life satisfaction, higher parent's education attainment, higher item ownership, fewer number of siblings, and having more lunches at the school restaurant than at home). Compared to the food insecurity group, the frequency of breakfast, self-rated diet, and the total score of MDA index were higher in the food security group. On the other hand, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that 'food security' was also associated with a higher consumption of processed beverages (OR 1.544; 95% CI 1.078-2.213; p = 0.018). Conclusion: Improving the quality of the diet is essential for adolescents in both the food insecurity and food security groups in Lao PDR. Therefore, it is necessary to provide well organized nutrition education and establish adequate nutrition policy for adolescents in Lao PDR.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.424-431
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• 2018

Stormwater runoff containing considerable amounts of pollutants such as particulates, organics, nutrients, and heavy metals contaminate natural bodies of water. At present, best management practices (BMP) intended to reduce the volume and treat pollutants from stormwater runoff were devised to serve as cost-effective measures of stormwater management. However, improper design and lack of proper maintenance can lead to degradation of the facility, making it unable to perform its intended function. This study evaluated an infiltration trench (IT) that went through a series of maintenance operations. 41 monitored rainfall events from 2009 to 2016 were used to evaluate the pollutant removal capabilities of the IT. Assessment of the water quality and hydrological data revealed that the inflow volume was the most relative factor affecting the unit pollutant loads (UPL) entering the facility. Seasonal variations also affected the pollutant removal capabilities of the IT. During the summer season, the increased rainfall depths and runoff volumes diminished the pollutant removal efficiency (RE) of the facility due to increased volumes that washed off larger pollutant loads and caused the IT to overflow. Moreover, the system also exhibited reduced pollutant RE for the winter season due to frozen media layers and chemical-related mechanisms impacted by the low winter temperature. Maintenance operations also posed considerable effects of the performance of the IT. During the first two years of operation, the IT exhibited a decrease in pollutant RE due to aging and lack of proper maintenance. However, some events also showed reduced pollutant RE succeeding the maintenance as a result of disturbed sediments that were not removed from the geotextile. Ultimately, the presented effects of maintenance operations in relation to the pollutant RE of the system may lead to the optimization of maintenance schedules and procedures for BMP of same structure.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.120-131
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• 2022

Microcystins (MCs) are cyano-toxins mainly produced by cyanobacteria in the genera of Microcystis, Anabaena, and Oscillatoria. The concentrations of MCs in the water bodies and fish tissues taken from the four weirs (Ipo, Gangjeong-goryeong, Baekje, and Juksan) in the four main rivers in Korea, and the health risk of human due to consumption of toxin-detected fish was examined. The maximum values of MCs concentration in the water samples were as follows: Juksan (3.261 ㎍ L^-1), Gangjeong-goryeong (1.014 ㎍ L^-1), Baekje (0.759 ㎍ L^-1), and Ipo (0.266 ㎍ L^-1) weirs. The MC-RR concentration was the highest among the MCs, and MC-YR was not detected. MCs of 0.222~9.808 ㎍ g^-1 dry weight were detected in the liver of 3 out of 215 fishes of 16 species, and below the detection limit in muscle. As a result of comparing the feeding characteristics of the collected fishes and toxin concentrations in water and fish tissue, it was concluded that the biomagnification of MCs through the food chain did not occur. It was judged that there was no health risk due to the consumption of the fish detected the toxin, based on the amount of the fish intake of the Korean people and the allowable daily intake of MCs. However, in order to reduce the health risk due to MCs, further studies should be conducted to analyze the concentration of MCs contained in fish tissues collected at various times in the area dominated by harmful cyanobacteria to obtain data on the exposure of MCs due to fish consumption. In addition, it is necessary to establish the management guidelines for MCs in fish tissues.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop education program for physicians who work at hospice palliative care settings in Korea, to practice abridged education program extracted from the full contents of the proposed education, and to improve the quality of hospice palliative care service. Methods: To develop the education program, questionnaire for hospice education need assessment (total 79 items) was distributed to 125 organizations practicing hospice service via mail and the data was collected from 1 Sep. to 10 Oct. 2004. Another questionnaire for hospice education importance assessment was asked to the palliative specialists from Sep. 23 to 17 Oct. 2004. Based on the analysis of the questionnaires, and reviewing various references and actual hospice palliative education programs of other countries, the education programs were developed. Results: Ore-day-Hospice education 2004 was conducted based on the suggested education program, and it was practiced four times on a national basis (2 times in Seoul, and once in Busan and Gwangju, respectively). 47 physicians attended the education program. The education program lasted about 7 hours, comprising 5 hours of common lectures for all attendants regardless of their professions and 2 hours of specific seminar for physicians only. Attendants positively responded to the contents of the education program. But they pointed out that the program should be offered on weekday and it should be more in-depth and more discussion based lesson. Conclusion: The suggested education program was not fully conducted yet. After practicing the abridged education program, more in-depth and discussion oriented rather than lecture-based education were suggested. It may be argued that the proposed education, which requires much longer period education, should also reflect the evaluation of the 1-day education program to successfully implement the proposed education program.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.477-487
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• 2012

Sea surface winds in the sea off the east coast of Korea were derived from L-band ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) PALSAR (Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar) data and their characteristics of errors were analyzed. We could retrieve high-resolution wind vectors off the east coast of Korea including the coastal region, which has been substantially unavailable from satellite scatterometers. Retrieved SAR-wind speeds showed a good agreement with in-situ buoy measurement by showing relatively small an root-mean-square (RMS) error of 0.67 m/s. Comparisons of the wind vectors from SAR and scatterometer presented RMS errors of 2.16 m/s and $19.24^{\circ}$, 3.62 m/s and $28.02^{\circ}$ for L-band GMF (Geophysical Model Function) algorithm 2009 and 2007, respectively, which tended to be somewhat higher than the expected limit of satellite scatterometer winds errors. L-band SAR-derived wind field exhibited the characteristic dependence on wind direction and incidence angle. The previous version (L-band GMF 2007) revealed large errors at small incidence angles of less than $21^{\circ}$. By contrast, the L-band GMF 2009, which improved the effect of incidence angle on the model function by considering a quadratic function instead of a linear relationship, greatly enhanced the quality of wind speed from 6.80 m/s to 1.14 m/s at small incident angles. This study addressed that the causes of wind retrieval errors should be intensively studied for diverse applications of L-band SAR-derived winds, especially in terms of the effects of wind direction and incidence angle, and other potential error sources.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.479-495
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• 2018

This study was carried out to research the multimedia fate modeling, concentration distribution and impact assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emitted from automobiles, which are known as carcinogenic and mutation chemicals. The amount of emissions of PAHs was determined based on the census data of automobiles at a target S-city and emission factors of PAHs, where multimedia fugacity modeling was conducted by the restriction of PAHs transfer between air-soil at the impervious area. PAHs' Concentrations and their distributions at several environmental media were predicted by multimedia fugacity model (level III). The residual amounts and the distributions of PAHs through mass transfer of PAHs between environment media were used to assess the health risk of PAHs at unsteady state (level IV), where the sensitivity analyses of the model parameter of each variable were conducted based on Monte Carlo simulation. The experimental result at S-city showed that Fluoranthene among PAHs substances are the highest residual concentrations (60%, 53%, 32% and 34%) at all mediums (atmospheric, water, soil, sediment), respectively, where most of the PAHs were highly accumulated in the sediment media (more than 80%). A result of PAHs concentration changes in S-city over the past 34 years identified that PAHs emissions from all environmental media increased from 1983 to 2005 and decreased until 2016, where the emission of heavy-duty vehicle including truck revealed the largest contribution to the automotive emissions of PAHs at all environment media. The PAHs concentrations in soil and water for the last 34 years showed the less value than the legal standards of PAHs, but the PAHs in air exceeded the air quality standards from 1996 to 2016. The result of this study is expected to contribute the effective management and monitoring of toxic chemicals of PAHs at various environment media of Metropolitan city.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.535-547
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• 2019

In this study, the heavy metal analysis in sediments (surface sediments, sediments cores and settling particles) from Shihwa Lake has been carried out to evaluate the changes of metal pollution levels in sediments after the operation of Tidal Power Plant (TPP). The average concentrations of metals in surface sediments sampled in 2015 were 8% (Cd)~31% (Zn, Hg) lower than in 2009 before TPP operation. Results of calculating the pollution load index (PLI) with 8 metals, the PLI value in 2015 showed a 18% decrease compared to 2009. However, Cu, Zn, Pb concentrations of surface sediments in 2015 at the upper region around industrial complex still exceeded the TEL (threshold effect level) values for sediment quality guideline in Korea. After the operation of TPP, the metal contaminated depths were increasing from 15 cm to 30 cm at S6 site and from 8 cm to 20 cm at S7 site, respectively. Our data showed that the mean concentration of heavy metals in core samples decreased but the contaminated depth increased. The average of the total sedimentation flux for particulate matter increased by 3.2 times from 32.5 g/㎡/d in 2009 to 103.5 g/㎡/d in 2015. This showed that the bottom sediments were resuspended by the operation of TPP, resulting in an increase of particulate matter in the water column. These results suggest that the sediments contaminated with heavy metals seem to be resuspended and relocated due to the water current caused by the operation of TPP. Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd were highly exceeding the TEL values in the upstream region and accumulated more than 40 cm of sediment depth, indicating that heavy metal contamination through industrial activity were still a serious environmental problem of Shihwa Lake. Although the metal pollution of Shihwa Lake has been slightly reduced, the contaminated sediments with heavy metals inside of Shihwa Lake might be discharged to outer sea after the resuspension by TPP operation. It is necessary for the advanced scientific approach and political decision to drastically reduce the heavy metal pollution of the study region.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.135-152
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• 2011

Nitrate concentrations in springs at the southern slope of Jeju Island were predicted using multiple linear regression (MLR) of spatial variables including hydrogeological parameters and land use characteristics. Springs showed wide range of nitrate concentrations from <0.02 to 86 mg/L with a mean of 20 mg/L. Spatial variables were generated for the circular buffer when the optimal buffer radius was assigned as 400 m. Selected regression models were tested using the p values and Durbin-Watson statistics. Explanatory variables were selected using the adjusted $R^2$, Cp (total squared error) and AIC (Akaike's Information Criterion), and significance. In addition, mutual linear relations between variables were also considered. Small portion of springs, usually <10% of total samples, were identified as outliers indicating limitations of MLR using circular buffers. Adjusted $R^2$ of the proposed models was improved from 0.75 to 0.87 when outliers were eliminated. In particular, the areal proportion of natural area had the greatest influence on the nitrate concentrations in springs. Among anthropogenic land uses, the influence of nitrate contamination is diminishing in the following order of orchard, residential area, and dry farmland. It is apparent quality of springs in the study area is likely to be controlled by land uses instead of hydrogeological parameters. Most of all, it is worth highlighting that the contamination susceptibility of springs is highly sensitive to nearby land uses, in particular, orchard.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.129-143
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• 1993

The objective of this study is to understand the status of the water pollution in rural areas and to furnish a basic material for the management of the water pollution in rural areas. For this purpose, the Bokha river basin, Ichon-Gun, Kyungki-Do considering as a typical agricultural area was selected as a representative experimental watershed. The characteristics of water pollution in streams of the Bokha river basin was revealed by investigating and analyzing data collected for the source of pollution, water qualities in reaches of the stream, the degree of contribution to the river contamination by pollution mass produced from each source, and the status of the self-purification at the main stream. The most important source of the water pollution in investigated watershed was livestock, and the next important one were in the order of population, land use, and industry. The water quality of the Bokha river was relatively favorable judging from the BOD and COD concentration, however since the concentration of T-N and T-P showed significantly large values, it was concluded that the river was seriously contaminated by the nutrient material. The main cause of the river contamination was proved due to livestock waste. For the T-N, both land use and livestock were much more contributied to the pollution than any other source, which characterized the typical water pollution of rural areas. Run-off ratios for the Bokha river tributaries to the main stream were changed according to the similar trend to the variation of discharges in the branch streams. For the value of the self-purification constant at the main stream, it showed smaller value in the downstream reach than the middle-stream and upstream reaches, where could possibly have smaller reoxidation action due to slower velocity and deeper water depth.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.710-717
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• 2008

Background: Atrial fibrillation is associated with several complications such as cerebro-vascular accidents and peripheral arterial embolism. Most of the patients who have this arrhythmia chronically feel their heart beating and so they are frightened; therefore, the quality of a patient's life is decreased. The purpose of this article is to determine the long term results of a modified Maze procedure and the factors that influence the success of the procedure. Material and Method: This study enrolled 88 patients who underwent the modified Maze with using cryoablation between June, 2001 and February, 2007. The 88 consecutive patients were divided into two groups ac cording to how the pulmonary veins were isolated, that is, with or without cryoablation. There were 58 patients who were isolated by cutting and sewing in the right pulmonary veins and by cyroablation in the left pulmonary veins in group 1 (group 1, n=58), and 30 patients who underwent isolation by cryoablation in the right & left pulmonary veins were placed in group 2 (group 2, n=30). The ECG was checked at discharge to determine the sinus conversion rate and we followed up the patients to determine whether or not the patients maintained sinus rhythm. We also checked the ECG at the last visit to determine the patients' heart rhythm. Result: The mean follow up time was $44.3{\pm}19.2$ months. At discharge, 72.4% of the patients in group 1 were in proper sinus rhythm and 66.7% of the patients in group 2 were in proper sinus rhythm. At the last follow up, 81% of the patients in group 1 were in normal sinus rhythm and 60% of the patients in group 2 were in normal sinus rhythm. When we analyzed the data via the Kaplan-Meier method, 86.5% of the patients were free from atrial fibrillation (% free from AF) at 1 year, 80% of the patients were free from atrial fibrillation at 5 year in group 1 and 70% of the patients were free from atrial fibrillation at 1 year and 51 % of the patients in group 2 were free from atrial fibrillation at 5 year. Conclusion: The modified Maze technique using cryoablation was a simple and effective procedure. But the success rate of the Maze technique using cryoblation is lower than that of the standard Maze III. The method using cryoablation shorten the operation time, but we must conduct more studies to get a better result of the modified Maze technique with using cryoablation.