• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.216-221
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• 2016

Level and distribution of fourteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the agricultural water samples collected in the waterways located in Gyeonggi and Gangwon, Korea were determined for monitoring and risk assessment. A simplified, fast but effective extraction and clean-up methods combined with gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was employed to measure the concentration of the target compounds. The extraction of the analytes of interest in water sample (10 mL) was performed with acetonitrile (10 mL) and the salt. To purify the target PAHs, the clean-up procedure was employed with 2 mL tubes of dispersive solid phase extraction. The optimized method was validated with recoveries, method detection limit (MDL), accuracy and precision. Good recoveries for each PAHs at 10 and $25{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ were achieved (60 to 110%, with RSD <20%) with linearity (>0.99). MDL for all the analytes was achieved with $0.2{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$. GC-MS/MS results showed that concentration of phenanthrene in the water samples from Gyeonggi (20 sites) ranged from 0.82 to $2.56{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ and from Gangwon (15 sites) ranged from 0.83 to $1.62{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$. Other PAHs were not found in the water samples but the continuous monitoring for these areas were required.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.595-606
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• 2010

A total 221 samples of the retailed foods collected from 2004 to 2007 was examined to estimate the level of dioxins(29 congeners) by the isotopic dilution method, and the exposure of population of Korean to dietary of dioxins was performed. Dioxins levels were calculated using TEF values established in 1998 and 2005, respectively. The average levels (pg TEQ/g) were less than 0.01 for polished rice, 0.04 (poultry)-0.13 (beef) for meats, 0.04 (milk)-0.05(cheese) for milk and dairy products, 0.13 for egg (york, only) and 0.11 (alaska pollack)-1.35 (pacific mackerel) for fishes. The estimated daily intake of Korean through foods was 0.47 pg TEQ/kg bw/day, and it was estimated as about 11% to tolerable daily intake (TDI; 4 pg TEQ/kg bw/day) of Korea and Japan. Consequently, it was concluded that there was no health risk.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.393-404
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to capture the essentials in survey and evaluation scheme which are able to assess the hazard of a rock slope systematically. Statistical analysis are performed on slope instability parameters related to failure of the rock slope. As the slope instability parameters, twelve survey items are considered such as tension crack, surface deformation, deformation of retaining structures, volume of existing failures, angles between strike of discontinuity and strike of cut slope face, angles between dip of discontinuity and dip of cut slope face, discontinuity condition, cut slope angle, rainfall or ground water level, excavation condition, drainage condition, reinforcement. A total of 233 road cut slopes located in Gyeongnam were considered. The stability of the road cut slopes were evaluated by estimating the slope instability index(SII) and corresponding stability rank. 126 rock slopes were selected to analyze statistical relation between SII and slope instability parameters. The multiple regression analysis was applied to derive statistical models which are able to predict the SII and corresponding slope stability rank. Also, its applicability was explored to predict the slope failures using the variables of slope instability parameters. The results obtained in this study clearly show that the methodology given in this paper have strong capabilities to evaluate the failures of the road cut slope effectively.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2010

Although international construction market gradually takes a important position among the export industries, the previous studies about international construction entry strategy have just focussed on trend investigation or suggestion for revitalization. Moreover, in order to prepare the market uncertainty such as world financial crisis and to plan the long term strategy, specific strategy studies based on corporate level are required. Therefore, this study estimates the nine strategic index and four financial index of 31 companies that performed 1920 international projects from 1993 to 2007 and evaluate the performance as three periods by multi-regression analysis. Also, this study analyze dynamic correlation between these index and the performance considering times. this study verifies that market diversification, product diversification, localization and decrease of debt to asset ratio make a good effect on the international order as long term strategy and shows that collaborated entry with domestic corporations, alliance entry with host country's company, alliance entry with third country's company, portion of labor cost and portion of management expense differently make a influence on the performance as times. these results will be helpful for the construction companies to plan the international entry strategy reasonably and specifically.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.695-703
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• 2011

Objective: This study was to investigate the effects of coordinated upper-limb body postures on the subjective discomfort rating, heart rate, and muscle activities. Background: Although generally many checklists such as OWAS, RULA, and REBA were applied to evaluate various body postures, the body postures were might be overestimated or underestimated because each body part(i.e., back, shoulder, and elbow etc.) was evaluated separately, and then added all rates of individual body parts to assess an overall risk level for the body posture in these methodologies. Methods: A total of 20 participants maintained 14 postures which were combinations of back, shoulder, and elbow flexion angles and then muscle activities, subjective discomfort, and heart rates were collected every three minute during a sustained 15 minute and 0.5kg weight holding task. Four muscle groups were investigated: erector spine, anterior deltoid, upper trapezius, triceps brachii. Results: Results showed that subjective discomfort was the lowest when the angle of back and shoulder were both $0^{\circ}s$, while the body posture with $45^{\circ}$ of back angle and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder angle was rated as the most subjective discomfort posture. In general, the subjective discomfort ratings increased as back and shoulder flexion angles increased. It was noted that, however, the subjective discomfort of body posture with a $45^{\circ}$ back angle and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion angle was lower than that of body posture with a $0^{\circ}$ back and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion angle. The research findings of heart rates and muscle activities showed similar results for the analyses of subjective discomfort ratings. Conclusions: The possible limitations of the current ergonomics evaluation techniques which assessing a body posture with summing all body part score after individually analyzed in this study. Based on the analyses of subjective discomfort, heart rate, and muscle activities, it was recommended that a use of effects of coordinated upper-limb body postures would be considered when one evaluates work-load for various working postures. Application: These findings can be used for developing a more accurate assessment checklist for working posture as well as preventing musculoskeletal disorders of workers in workplaces.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.411-422
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• 2000

Considering the rapid change of modern nursing knowledge, it is necessary to make changes in the curriculum of nursing education periodically according to the patient-nursing needs and the students' needs. This means that nursing education has to provide opportunities for the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Also, as the students of the RN-BSN program being all registered nurses, the education program for them is planned differently from the general undergraduate program. This study was conducted to establish the scope of educational contents of pediatric nursing in RN-BSN program. The contents of the pediatric nursing curriculum and its necessity was identified and reviewed. From June 5 to June 30 2000, data were collected from 309 RN-BSN students in 5 nursing schools. The questionnaire used for this study was developed by their researchers and the Korean Nursing Association and consisted of items according to the curriculum contents of pediatric nursing. The data were analyzed through frequency and percentages and was analyzed using SPSSWIN 10.0 programs. The results were as follows: 1.In the section surveying on the credits of pediatric theory and clinical practice, 3 out of 5 schools had 2 credits in theory (60.0%), and 2 credits for clinical practice in 2 schools, and 2 credits were given to the elective practice in 2 other schools. 2. In analyzing the degree of demand for lecture and clinical practice, 52.1% of students preferred lectures to be given by professors and 53.7% preferred their level of undergraduate knowledge updated and finally most of the students (81.9%) didn't want to do the clinical practice. 3.The students weighted the importance of current curriculum contents as follows : sex education of adolescence(60.8%), high-risk infant(59.5%), sex education of school age children(59.2%), the handicapped children (55.7%), health assessment(52.4%), children with pneumonia(51.5%), children with asthma (47.1%), children with burns(41.1%). In conclusion, there is a need for research to measure the degree of education satisfaction and needs in RN-BSN students and to improve the curriculum contents in pediatric nursing.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.553-559
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• 2015

Research on micro-level assessment of the changes of socio-economic status following health interventions is very scarce. The use of household asset data to determine wealth indices is a common procedure for estimating socio-economic position in resource poor settings. In such settings information about income is usually lacking, and the collection of individual consumption or expenditure data would require in-depth interviews, posing a considerable risk of bias. In this study, we determined the socio-economic status of 213 households in a community population in an island in the north-western Tanzania before and 3 year after implementation of a participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) intervention to control schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections. We constructed a household 'wealth index' based housing construction features (e.g., type of roof, walls, and floor) and durable assets ownership (e.g., bicycle, radio, etc.). We employed principal components analysis and classified households into wealth quintiles. The study revealed that asset variables with positive factor scores were associated with higher socio-economic status, whereas asset variables with negative factor scores were associated with lower socio-economic status. Overall, households which were rated as the poorest and very poor were on the decrease, whereas those rated as poor, less poor, and the least poor were on the increase after PHAST intervention. This decrease/increase was significant. The median shifted from -0.4376677 to 0.5001073, and the mean from -0.2605787 (SD; 2.005688) to 0.2605787 (SD; 1.831199). The difference in socio-economic status of the people between the 2 phases was highly statistically significant (P<0.001). We argue that finding of this study should be treated with caution as there were other interventions to control schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections which were running concurrently on Kome Island apart from PHAST intervention.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.456-460
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• 2012

This study was carried out as a survey on the level of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) in 5 items of agricultural products (lettuce, pumpkin, head lettuce, cabbage and crown daisy) for which safety guidelines are not yet established in Korea. The 407 samples were collected from local markets in 9 regional places and the levels of metals were measured by ICP-MS and mercury analyzer. The average levels of Pb, Cd, As and Hg were 0.026, 0.018, 0.008 and 0.003 mg/kg for lettuce, 0.002, 0.001, 0.001 and 0.0006 mg/kg for pumpkin, 0.002, 0.005, 0.001 and 0.0005 mg/kg for head lettuce, 0.001, 0.002, 0.0002 and 0.0006 mg/kg for cabbage and 0.022, 0.014, 0.006 and 0.004 mg/kg for crown daisy. For risk assessment, the daily dietary exposures of Pb, Cd and Hg by intake of these agricultural products were calculated and compared with PTWI (provisional tolerable weekly intake) established by JECFA. The daily dietary exposure of heavy metals by intake of these agricultural products were 0.13, 0.56 and 0.09% of PTWI, respectively. These monitoring results will be utilized as fundamental data for the establishment of Korean standards of Pb, Cd, As and Hg in 5 items of agricultural products and valuable source for DB construction for science-based safety control of heavy metals in foods including agricultural products.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.699-709
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• 2017

We measured the grain size, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb, and Zn) in order to understand the spatial distribution and pollution level of organic matter and metals in surface sediment around Goseong Bay, a shellfish farming area, Korea. The surface sediments were composed of finer sediments such as mud and clay. The concentration of TOC, TN, and heavy metals were much higher in the innermost bay than in the mouth and outside of bay. The spatial distribution of organic matter and heavy metals and C/N ratio (5-10) in sediment showed that the organic matter and heavy metals in sediment of the study region were significantly influenced by oceanic origin organic matter and anthropogenic sources, respectively. Based on the results of four assessment techniques (sediment quality guideline, geoaccumulation index, pollution load index, ecological risk index), the sediments around the Goseong Bay were a little polluted for heavy metals and the high metal concentrations in the northern region of bay could adverse impact on benthic organisms in sediment. Thus, the systematic management plan for the improvement of water and sediment environment and the concentrated monitoring of pollutants for sustainable aquaculture and seafood safety around Goseong Bay are necessary in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.691-699
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• 2021

The global surface temperature has risen critically over the past century and according to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report 2014, existing risks in natural and human systems will worsen. Coastal erosion is mostly caused by climate change and among all the coastal areas at risk, Benin, which is part of the Gulf of Guinea, has been ranked very highly as a vulnerable region. Therefore, in this review, we focus on the evolution of coastline change in Cotonou of Benin, summarizing its resultant impacts and applied measures around the coast area by reviewing previous studies. Signs of coastal erosion in Cotonou appeared in 1963. After 39 years, the east shoreline of Cotonou has retreated by 885 m, resulting in the disappearance of more than 800 houses. To solve this problem, Benin authorities built seven groynes in 2013, and have increased the number of the structure as a way to interrupt water flow and limit the movement of sediment. Over the region, shorelines appeared preserved accordingly. In contrast, areas located further east, where groynes were not installed, have suf ered from intensive erosion at a rate of 49 m/yr. In the future, as a next step, the effectiveness of groynes should be studied with local and broader perspectives.