• 한국환경보건학회지
• /
• 제35권1호
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2009

This study assessed the relationships between levels of $PM_{10}$ and hospitalization rates for asthma among children from 2003 to 2005 at four major cities in Korea. In addition, we estimated the reduced number of asthma hospitalization associated with an ambient $PM_{10}$ improvement to the acceptable levels as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was used to estimate the relative risks (RR) of asthma hospitalization associated with changes in $PM_{10}$ The RRs of children's asthma hospitalization for every $10{\mu}g/m^3$ increment in $PM_{10}$ were 1.009(95% CI = 1.004-1.014) in Seoul, 1.013(95% CI = 1.006-1.021) in Incheon, 1.009(95% CI = 1.002-1.016) in Busan, and 1.021(95% CI = 1.005-1.037) in Ulsan. We assessed $PM_{10}$ related health benefits from implementing the WHO's guidelines (24-hour average $50{\mu}g/m^3$) using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program. The estimated benefits were 439(95% CI = 216-666) reduced asthma hospitalization in Seoul, 720(95% CI = 304-1,151) in Incheon, 260(95% CI = 66-459) in Busan, and 126(95% CI = 30-228) in Ulsan. It was concluded that improving $PM_{10}$ condition to the WHO guideline would make a significant contribution to the reduction in asthma hospitalization among children. Therefore, public health measures are still needed to improve air quality in Korea.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• 제22권3호
• /
• pp.537-565
• /
• 2016

Australian railway networks possess a large amount of aging timber components and need to replace them in excess of 280 thousands $m^3$ per year. The relatively high turnover of timber sleepers (crossties in a plain track), bearers (skeleton ties in a turnout), and transoms (bridge cross beams) is responsible for producing greenhouse gas emissions 6 times greater than an equivalent reinforced concrete counterparts. This paper presents an innovative solution for the replacement of aging timber transoms installed on existing railway bridges along with the incorporation of a continuous walkway platform, which is proven to provide environmental, safety and financial benefits. Recent developments for alternative composite materials to replace timber components in railway infrastructure construction and maintenance demonstrate some compatibility issues with track stiffness as well as structural and geometrical track systems. Structural concrete are generally used for new railway bridges where the comparatively thicker and heavier fixed slab track systems can be accommodated. This study firstly demonstrates a novel and resilient alterative by incorporating steel-concrete composite slab theory and combines the capabilities of being precast and modulated, in order to reduce the depth, weight and required installation time relative to conventional concrete direct-fixation track slab systems. Clear benefits of the new steel-concrete composites are the maintainability and constructability, especially for existing railway bridges (or brown fields). Critical considerations in the design and finite element modelling for performance benchmarking of composite structures and their failure modes are highlighted in this paper, altogether with risks, compatibilities and compliances.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제40권4호
• /
• pp.321-328
• /
• 2007

Objectives : The aim of this study was to evaluate the roles of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, tuberculosis, and their interactions in the risk of lung cancer in a Korean cohort. Methods : The study subjects comprised 13,150 males and females aged above 20 years old. During the follow up period from 1993 to 2002, 79 lung cancer cases were identified by the central cancer registry and the national death certificate database. Information on cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and the history of physician-diagnosed tuberculosis was obtained by interview. Indirect chest X-ray findings were also evaluated to ascertain tuberculosis cases. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) after adjusting for age and gender. Results : Cigarette smoking was statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of lung cancer [for current smokers, RR = 2.33 (95% CI = 1.23 - 4.42) compared to non-smokers]. After further adjustment for cigarette smoking, both alcohol consumption and tuberculosis showed no statistically significant association with the risk of lung cancer [for current drinkers, RR = 0.80 (95% CI = 0.48 - 1.33) compared to non-drinkers] [for tuberculosis cases, RR = 1.17 (95% CI = 0.58 - 2.36) compared to non-cases]. There was no statistically significant interaction between cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption (p-interaction = 0.38), or cigarette smoking and tuberculosis (p-interaction = 0.74). Conclusions : Although cigarette smoking was confirmed as a risk factor of lung cancer in this cohort study, this study suggests that alcohol consumption and tuberculosis may not be associated with the risk of lung cancer.

• 한국식품영양과학회지
• /
• 제28권3호
• /
• pp.710-721
• /
• 1999

This study was conducted to investigate the hematological characteristics and risk factors of hypercholesterolemia(HC) in Korean. 344 adult men who took the annual health check ups at D or J hospitals were participated in this cross sectional study. The subjects were grouped by plasma total cholesterol level into three groups: normal cholesterolemic(n=139), borderline hypercholesterolemic (n=93) and hypercholesterolemic(n=112) groups. The data of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP), hemoglobin, plasma glucose, albumin and cholesterol levels were collected from medical records. The levels of plasma triglyceride(TG), HDL C, phospholipid, insulin, apo A and apo B were measured. The levels of plasma LDL C, VLDL C and atherogenic index(AI) were calculated. The subjects with HC had significantly higher SBP and DBP, albumin, TG, phospholipid, HDL C, LDL C, VLDL C and apo B level than those of the normal subjects. The relative and attributable risks on HC were 1.59 and 0.18 for hypertension(SBP/DBP$\geq$160/95), 2.08 and 0.35 for hypertriglyceridemia (TG $\geq$400mg/dl). Plasma total cholesterol level was positively correlated with several hematologic parameters: age(r=0.1242, p<0.05), DBP(r=0.1194, p<0.05), albumin(r=0.2029, p<0.001), plasma TG(r= 0.3829, p<0.001), phospholipid(r=0.6036, p<0.001), LDL C(r=0.8572, p<0.001), HDL C(r=0.2399, p< 0.001), AI(r=0.3116, p<0.001), apo B(r=0.2602, p<0.05) and Lp(a)(r=0.1372, p<0.05). However, plasma total cholesterol level was negatively correlated with the levels of Apo A1(r= 0.2922, p<0.001), and ABR(r= 0.3598, p<0.001).

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• 제33권3호
• /
• pp.267-274
• /
• 2020

Background: General anesthesia (GA) has been considered the anesthetic technique which most frequent leads to phantom limb pain (PLP) after a limb amputation. However, these prior reports were limited by small sample sizes. The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence of PLP according to the various anesthetic techniques used for limb amputation and also to compare the occurrence of PLP according to amputation etiology using the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service for large-scale demographic information. Methods: The claims of patients who underwent limb amputation were reviewed by analyzing the codes used to classify standardized medical behaviors. The patients were categorized into three groups-GA, neuraxial anesthesia (NA), and peripheral nerve block (PNB)-in accordance with the anesthetic technique. The recorded diagnosis was confirmed using the diagnostic codes for PLP registered within one year after the limb amputation. Results: Finally, 7,613 individuals were analyzed. According to the recorded diagnoses, 362 patients (4.8%) developed PLP after amputation. Among the 2,992 patients exposed to GA, 191 (6.4%) were diagnosed with PLP, whereas 121 (4.3%) of the 2,840 patients anesthetized with NA, and 50 (2.8%) of the 1,781 patients anesthetized under PNB developed PLP. The relative risks were 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53-0.84; P < 0.001) for NA and 0.43 (95% CI, 0.32-0.59; P < 0.001) for PNB. Conclusions: In this retrospective cohort study, using large-scale population-based databases, the incidence rates of PLP after limb amputations were, in the order of frequency, GA, NA, and PNB.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제39권1호
• /
• pp.81-86
• /
• 2006

Background: A number of studies have reported associations between the ambient air pollution concentrations and various health outcomes. Especially, ozone is well known for primary risk factor of asthma attacks. The results of a recent study indicate that the size of the effect on health outcomes due to air pollution varied according to several conditions, including age, gender, race and the socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the associations of ozone with the childhood asthma hospitalizations as stratified by the socioeconomic status (SES) at the community level in Seoul, Korea, 2002. Methods: SES at aggregated levels was measured on the basis of average regional health-insurance rate per citizen in the area. We applied the generalized additive model to analyze the effect of ozone on asthma after controlling for the potential confounding variables that were capable of influencing the results. Results: Our analysis showed that the number of children who were hospitalized for asthma increased as the SES of the residence area decreased. The estimated relative risks of hospitalization for asthma, as stratified by the SES of the community level, were 1.12 (95% confidence interval 1.00-1.25) in districts with the highest SES levels, 1.24 (95% CI=1.08-1.43) within the moderate SES levels, and 1.32 (95% CI=1.11-1.58) in the districts with the lowest SES levels. Conclusions: Our analysis showed that exposure to air pollution did not equally affect the health status of individuals. This suggests that not only the biological-sensitivity markers, but also the SES of the subjects should be considered as potentially confounding factors.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제44권6호
• /
• pp.242-248
• /
• 2011

Objectives: Busan is reported to have the highest mortality rate among 16 provinces in Korea, as well as considerable health inequality across its districts. This study sought to examine overall and cause-specific mortality and deprivation at the town level in Busan, thereby identifying towns and causes of deaths to be targeted for improving overall health and alleviating health inequality. Methods: Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for all-cause and four specific leading causes of death were calculated at the town level in Busan for the years 2005 through 2008. To construct a deprivation index, principal components and factor analysis were adopted, using 10% sample data from the 2005 census. Geographic information system (GIS) mapping techniques were applied to compare spatial distributions between the deprivation index and SMRs. We fitted the Gaussian conditional autoregressive model (CAR) to estimate the relative risks of mortality by deprivation level, controlling for both the heterogeneity effect and spatial autocorrelation. Results: The SMRs of towns in Busan averaged 100.3, ranging from 70.7 to 139.8. In old inner cities and towns reclaimed for replaced households, the deprivation index and SMRs were relatively high. CAR modeling showed that gaps in SMRs for heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and physical injury were particularly high. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that more deprived towns are likely to have higher mortality, in particular from cardiovascular disease and physical injury. To improve overall health status and address health inequality, such deprived towns should be targeted.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• 제38권6호
• /
• pp.455-464
• /
• 2005

The study was designed to observe the correlation between the eating habits and growth development in 1,574 children (3-6 years old) in Kyunggi-do and Seoul, Korea. The eating habits and nutrient intake were determined by mini dietary assessment and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). 35.6% children had been practicing an unbalanced diets. Children with unbalanced diet consumed less amount of protein source foods (meat, fish, egg, soy products), vegetables and fruits and had irregular meal time, but more of them preferred sweet foods (ice creme, cookies) and carbonated drinks as snack compared with children in balanced diet. 24-35% children consumed energy, iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), Niacin, Zinc (Zn) less than 75% RDA. Energy intake of children with unbalanced diet was not significantly different from those with balanced diet, but they consumed less amount of niacin, Fe, Ca and Zn than those with balanced diet. By using the relative percentage of standard weight-length-index (WLI), 65.7% children was normal weight, 12.9% was underweight, 13.4% was overweight and 7.9% was obese. However, 11.9% of underweight and normal weight children was so called thin obese since their body fat content was greater than 20%. There were 16.8% underweight in children with unbalanced diet and 12.6% underweight in those with balanced diet. Compared to normal weight, the underweight children significantly consumed less amount of milk and its product, high protein foods, fried foods and fruits, but obese children consumed more high protein source foods (meat, fish, egg, etc) and sweet foods. In conclusion, the eating habits of unbalanced meal was prevalent problem in preschool children which resulting in their health risks. Therefore, it would be needed that new approach for nutrition education to improve eating habits in preschoolers.

• 농촌계획
• /
• 제25권1호
• /
• pp.75-87
• /
• 2019

As the impacts of climate change have been emerged all the way through society, the potential risks specifically on agricultural water and facilities are recently getting concerned. Evaluating vulnerability of agriculture to climate change on is a time-tested strategy. While a number of researches on the adaption and mitigation of climate change were performed in various aspects for sustainable agricultural production, the vulnerability of management system for agricultural water and infrastructure has not been investigated yet. This study is aimed to clarify the definition of vulnerability to climate change, find the major indicators able to presume the vulnerability, and finally determine the relative importance of the indicators based on the specialist questionnaire survey and its analyses. The lists of indicators for major parts of agricultural water management such as, water use, flood control, reservoir related issues, and pumping and drainage systems are initialized referring to the related precedent studies. The primary survey was conducted in the form of Delphi to complement the list and methods and the main survey was then conducted using AHP(Analytic Hierarchy Process) technique to quantitatively prioritize the indicators. The results derived in this study would be directly adopted in weighting importance of indicators to investigate the indicator-based vulnerability analysis to climate change in agricultural water and infrastructure management.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제52권1호
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2019

Objectives: In recent years, serious concerns have been raised regarding the impacts of rising temperatures on health. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between elevated temperatures and kidney disease through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: In October 2017, 2 researchers independently searched related studies in PubMed and Embase. A meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model, including only studies that presented odds ratios, relative risks, or percentage changes, along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The characteristics of each study were summarized, and the Egger test and funnel plots were used to evaluate publication bias. Results: Eleven studies that met the criteria were included in the final analysis. The pooled results suggest an increase of 30% (95% CI, 20 to 40) in kidney disease morbidity with high temperatures. In a disease-specific subgroup analysis, statistically significant results were observed for both renal colic or kidney stones and other renal diseases. In a study design-specific subgroup analysis, statistically significant results were observed in both time-series analyses and studies with other designs. In a temperature measure-specific subgroup analysis, significant results were likewise found for both studies using mean temperature measurements and studies measuring heat waves or heat stress. Conclusions: Our results indicate that morbidity due to kidney disease increases at high temperatures. We also found significant results in subgroup analyses. However, further time-series analyses are needed to obtain more generalizable evidence.