• Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.7-12
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• 2018

Hydrochloric acid is a highly corrosive toxic substance and requires proper safety to minimize damage in case of leakage. Among the various risk-reduction facilities, the dike is a typical safety facility installed to protect the surrounding buildings and facilities by preventing the external spread of hazardous materials from the storage tank. In this study, the KORA program was used to assume leakage accident of hydrochloric acid storage tank. At this time, the extent of the damage effects of ERPG-2 were assessed for each of the three separation distance between the storage tank and the dike. The study found that the smaller the separation distance between the dike and the storage tank, the smaller the extent of damage caused by hydrochloric acid leakage, and the greater the impact of indoor conditions under the same conditions. Through this process, we are going to assist in selecting locations and installing facilities for new and existing businesses.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.69-77
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• 2013

Toxic effects of arsenic (As) and chromium (Cr) has been investigated using the sea urchin (Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus) germ cell and pluteus-larvae. The gametotoxic and embryotoxic effects of As and Cr on H. plucherrimus were each investigated at 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100. Spawning was induced by 0.5 M KCl solution and the normal fertilization and embryogenesis rates were performed for 10 min and 64 hrs after fertilization, respectively. The normal fertilization and embryogenesis rates in the control condition (not including As and Cr) were greater than 94% and 93%, respectively. The fertilization rate was not significantly changed compared with control but embryogenesis rate was significantly decreased with concentration-dependent manner. As and Cr reduced normal embryogenesis rates and a significant reduction occurred at concentration greater than 6.25 ppb (P<0.01) and 25 ppb (P<0.05), respectively. The lowest-observedeffect- concentration (LOEC) of normal embryogenesis rate in As and Cr were each 6.25 and 25 ppb, respectively. From these results, normal embryogenesis rate of H. pulcherrimus have toxic effect at greater than the 6.25 ppb concentration of As and 25 ppb concentration of Cr in marine ecosystems. These results suggest that the normal embryogenesis rates of H. pulcherrimus are very useful test method for the toxicity assessment of heavy metal as As and Cr in marine ecosystems.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6673-6680
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• 2013

Objective: Insulin resistance (IR) is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). Given that CRC and IR physiologically overlap and the calpain-10 gene (CAPN10) is a candidate for IR, we explored the association between CAPN10 and CRC risk. Methods: Blood samples of 400 case-control pairs were genotyped, and the lifestyle and dietary habits of these pairs were recorded and collected. Unconditional logistic regression (LR) was used to assess the effects of CAPN10 SNP43 and SNP19, and environmental factors. Both generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) and the classification and regression tree (CART) were used to test gene-environment interactions for CRC risk. Results: The GA+AA genotype of SNP43 and the Del/Ins+Ins/Ins genotype of SNP19 were marginally related to CRC risk (GA+AA: OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 0.92-1.99; Del/Ins+Ins/Ins: OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 0.84-2.04). Notably, a high-order interaction was consistently identified by GMDR and CART analyses. In GMDR, the four-factor interaction model of SNP43, SNP19, red meat consumption, and smoked meat consumption was the best model, with a maximum cross-validation consistency of 10/10 and testing balance accuracy of 0.61 (P < 0.01). In LR, subjects with high red and smoked meat consumption and two risk genotypes had a 6.17-fold CRC risk (95% CI = 2.44-15.6) relative to that of subjects with low red and smoked meat consumption and null risk genotypes. In CART, individuals with high smoked and red meat consumption, SNP19 Del/Ins+Ins/Ins, and SNP43 GA+AA had higher CRC risk (OR = 4.56, 95%CI = 1.94-10.75) than those with low smoked and red meat consumption. Conclusions: Though the single loci of CAPN10 SNP43 and SNP19 are not enough to significantly increase the CRC susceptibility, the combination of SNP43, SNP19, red meat consumption, and smoked meat consumption is associated with elevated risk.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.765-772
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• 2017

Objective: This study examines the genetic factors influencing the phenotypes (four economic traits:oleic acid [C18:1], monounsaturated fatty acids, carcass weight, and marbling score) of Hanwoo. Methods: To enhance the accuracy of the genetic analysis, the study proposes a new statistical model that excludes environmental factors. A statistically adjusted, analysis of covariance model of environmental and genetic factors was developed, and estimated environmental effects (covariate effects of age and effects of calving farms) were excluded from the model. Results: The accuracy was compared before and after adjustment. The accuracy of the best single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in C18:1 increased from 60.16% to 74.26%, and that of the two-factor interaction increased from 58.69% to 87.19%. Also, superior SNPs and SNP interactions were identified using the multifactor dimensionality reduction method in Table 1 to 4. Finally, high- and low-risk genotypes were compared based on their mean scores for each trait. Conclusion: The proposed method significantly improved the analysis accuracy and identified superior gene-gene interactions and genotypes for each of the four economic traits of Hanwoo.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.344-352
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• 2019

Epilepsy is one of the major chronic neurological diseases affecting many patients. Resection surgery is the most effective therapy for medically intractable epilepsy, but it is not feasible in all patients. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an adjunctive neuromodulation therapy that was approved in 1997 for the alleviation of seizures; however, efforts to control epilepsy by stimulating the vagus nerve have been studied for over 100 years. Although its exact mechanism is still under investigation, VNS is thought to affect various brain areas. Hence, VNS has a wide indication for various intractable epileptic syndromes and epilepsy-related comorbidities. Moreover, recent studies have shown anti-inflammatory effects of VNS, and the indication is expanding beyond epilepsy to rheumatoid arthritis, chronic headaches, and depression. VNS yields a more than 50% reduction in seizures in approximately 60% of recipients, with an increase in reduction rates as the follow-up duration increases. The complication rate of VNS is 3-6%, and infection is the most important complication to consider. However, revision surgery was reported to be feasible and safe with appropriate measures. Recently, noninvasive VNS (nVNS) has been introduced, which can be performed transcutaneously without implantation surgery. Although more clinical trials are being conducted, nVNS can reduce the risk of infection and subsequent device failure. In conclusion, VNS has been demonstrated to be beneficial and effective in the treatment of epilepsy and various diseases, and more development is expected in the future.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.421-431
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the safety and disaster prevention effects of the Smart Safety System used to prevent safety accidents in construction machinery and demonstrate its safety. Method: Among construction machines, the behavioral patterns of workers according to the presence or absence of a smart safety system were analyzed for excavators with high risk and frequent accidents. Result: When the smart safety system was installed in the construction machine, the safety of workers from accidents caused by constriction and collision with the construction machine was secured. Conclusion: It is judged that the smart safety system installed in construction machinery can increase the effectiveness of disaster reduction and major disaster prevention related to construction machinery.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.10-17
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• 2021

The controversy over the risk of the human body being affected by electromagnetic fields emitted from 60 Hz power lines continues without end. There are currently no new studies or research progress being made in this direction that is notable, and the number of civil complaints is gradually increasing. The problem is that each study produces different results, among which the effect of exposure to magnetic fields on childhood leukemia is a major one. In Korea, an electrician who was maintaining a 22.9 kV power line died of leukemia, which has recently been recognized as an occupational disease. Methods to reduce magnetic fields from power lines include shielding with wire loops, incorporating split phases and compaction techniques, installing underground power lines, converting to high-voltage direct current (HVDC), and increasing the ground clearance of transmission towers. Depending on whether a separate power supply is needed or not, there are two types of wire loops: passive loop and active loop. Magnetic field reduction is currently done through underground power lines; however, the disadvantage of this process is high construction costs. Installing passive loops, with relatively low construction costs, leads to lower magnetic field reduction rates than installing underground cables and a weakness to not solving the landscape problem. This methodological study aims at designing methods and reducing the effects of 2-wire set loops-the simplest and most practical. Since the method proposed in this study has been designed after analyzing the distribution of complex electromagnetic fields near the expected loop installation location, a practical design can be implemented without the need for any difficult optimization programming.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.23-51
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• 2016

This study analyzed the expected economic effects of the Korea-GCC FTA and sought strategies for industrial cooperation. To see the economic effects of Korea-GCC FTA, we analysed the effect of the oil tariff reduction of economy by Vector Autoregression(VAR) model. The estimation results shows that following the abolishment of the tariff on crude oil imports, GDP, GNI and consumption are expected to grow by 0.212%, 0.389% and 0.238%, respectively. Meanwhile, investment, export and import are estimated to drop by 0.462%, 0.413% and 0.342%, respectively. As for prices, producer prices are to rise by 6.356%p, whereas consumer prices fall by 2.996%p. In short, the Korea-GCC FTA and resultant abolishment of the tariff on crude oil imports followed by the decline in crude oil prices will result in declining prices whilst macroeconomic indices, such as GDP, GNI and consumption, will increase exerting positive effects on domestic economic growth. Also, it is necessary to proactively respond to GCC member states' industrial diversification policies for FTA-based industrial cooperation to diversify the sources of crude oil and natural gas imports for further resource risk management.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.438-448
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• 2017

This study was a systematic review and meta-analysis that evaluated the results of research on the pain reduction effects of lidocaine gel for urethral catheterization in adults. A literature search was conducted using seven electronic databases, gray literature and other resources based on the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). A Risk of Bias (RoB) tool was applied to assess the quality of selected studies. Data were analyzed using the RevMan 5.3.-program. Sixteen randomized controlled trials involving 1904 adults were included. RoB was not observed in the funnel plot. Overall, lidocaine gel was effective for pain reduction during urethral catheterization (Standard Mean Difference[SMD] -0.96;95% CI: -1.43, -0.49). To explore the cause of heterogeneity (I2=95%, p<.001), subgroup analysis was conducted according to three catheter types (urinary catheter, flexible cystoscopy, and rigid cystoscopy) and the SMDs were -0.88 (95% CI:-1.51, -0.26), -0.31 (95% CI:-0.63, 0.01), and -1.93 (95% CI:-2.88, -0.97), respectively. A significant pain reduction effect was observed regardless of gender in urinary catheterization. However, in rigid cystoscopy, a significant pain reduction effect was observed only in male subjects. Pain reduction effects were observed when 10~11ml lidocaine gel was used during rigid cystoscopy and when lubrication was used during urinary catheterization, irrespective of application time. These findings suggest that lidocaine gel is a useful anesthetic lubricant for urinary catheterization and rigid cystoscopy in male adults.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.4-10
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• 2023

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a common disease in the aging population and immunocompromised individuals, with a lifetime risk of 20%-30% that increases with age. HZ is caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which remains latent in the spinal dorsal root ganglia and cranial sensory ganglia after resolution of the primary VZV infection. The main focus of HZ management is rapid recovery from VZV infection as well as the reduction and prevention of zoster-associated pain (ZAP) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). The use of antivirals against VZV is essential in the treatment of HZ. However, limited antivirals are only licensed clinically for the treatment of HZ, including acyclovir, valacyclovir, famciclovir, brivudine, and amenamevir. Fortunately, some new antivirals against different types of Herpesviridae have been investigated and suggested as novel drugs against VZV. Therefore, this review focuses on discussing the difference in efficacy and safety in the currently licensed antivirals for the treatment of HZ, the applicability of future novel antivirals against VZV, and the preventive or therapeutic effects of these antivirals on ZAP or PHN.