• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.283-296
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• 2014

The distribution of heavy metals in the stormwater runoffs from industrial sites around Shihwa Lake that implements the total pollutant load management system (TPLMS) was studied to characterize the temporal changes of metal concentrations and to assess the ecological risk in dissolved and particulate phases of the selected metals. The dissolved Co and Ni concentration demonstrated first flush and tended to decrease with increasing of the duration of rainfall. The intensity of precipitation was found to be the main controlling factor of particulate metals in the stromwater runoffs. The particulate concentration of Pb accounted for 97.2% so the particulate phase was its main form. Other metals followed the sequence: Pb>Cu>Cd>Co>Zn>Ni. The particulate-dissolved partitioning coefficient ($K_d$) indicated that the $K_d$ of Pb were bigger than that of other metals because the metal Pb in the stormwater runoffs is quickly removed into the particulate phase. In a single day rainfall event, total runoff fluxes for total metals as the sum of dissolved and particulate forms through only two sewer outlets were 2.21 kg for Co, 30.5 kg for Ni, 278.3 kg for Cu, 398.3 kg for Zn, 0.39 kg for Cd and 40.0 kg for Pb, respectively. Given the annual rainfall, the number of rain days and the basin area for total pollutant load management system (TPLMS) of Shihwa area, enormous amount of non-point metal pollutants were entered into Lake with any treatment. The dissolved metals (e.g., Ni, Cu and Zn) in the stormwater runoffs exceeded the acute water quality criteria. Additionally, all metals were significantly enriched in the particulate phase and exceeded the PEL criteria of sediment quality guidelines (SQGs). These results indicated that the heavy metals in the stormwater runoffs may pose a very high ecological risk to the coastal environments and ecosystem.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.227-249
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• 2016

Arsenic and its compounds vary in their toxicity according to the chemical forms. Inorganic arsenic is more toxic and known as carcinogen. The provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of $15{\mu}g/kg$ b.w./week established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has been withdrawn, while the EFSA panel suggested $BMDL_{0.1}$ $0.3{\sim}8{\mu}g/kg\;b.w./day$ for cancers of the lung, skin and bladder, as well as skin lesions. Rice, seaweed and beverages are known as food being rich in inorganic arsenic. As(III) is the major form of inorganic arsenic in rice and anaerobic paddy soils, while most of inorganic arsenic in seaweed is present as As(V). The inorganic arsenic in food was extracted with solvent such as distilled water, methanol, nitric acid and so on in heat-assisted condition or at room temperature. Arsenic speciation analysis was based on ion-exchange chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. However, there has been no harmonized and standardized method for inorganic arsenic analysis internationally. The inorganic arsenic exposure from food has been estimated to range of $0.13{\sim}0.7{\mu}g/kg$ bw/day for European, American and Australian, and $0.22{\sim}5{\mu}g/kg$ bw/day for Asian. The maximum level (ML) for inorganic arsenic in food has established by EU, China, Australia and New Zealand, but are under review in Korea. Until now, several studies have conducted for reduction of inorganic arsenic in food. Inorganic arsenic levels in rice and seaweed were reduced by more polishing and washing, boiling and washing, respectively. Further research for international harmonization of analytical method, monitoring and risk assessment will be needed to strengthen safety management of inorganic arsenic of foods in Korea.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.133-145
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• 1999

The purposesof the study are to analyze the community nursing center in U.S.A and to develop the model of nursing care system based on nurse-midwifery clinic in community for women's health in Korea. 1. In America nursing center is defined as nurse-anchored system of primary care delivery or neighborhood health center. Nursing centers are identified the following four types: (1) community outreach centers, which are similar to traditional public health clinics: (2) institutional-based centers following the mission of a large institution, such as a hospital or university: (3) wellness/health promotion centers, which offer screening, education, counseling, triage, and health maintenance services: and (4) independent practice. Nursing centers are a concept of services provided by nurses in practice arrangements in a community. Nursing centers offer a variety of services, ranging from primary care provided by advanced practice nurses with medical acute management and nursing care to the more traditional education, health promotion, screening wellness and coordination services. Some services, such as the care provided by advanced practice nurses are reimbursed under various insurance plan in some instances and states, where as others, such as preventive and educational services, are not. Thus, lack of reimbursement has threatened the survival of some centers. Licensing of nursing centers varies by state and program and accreditation of nursing centers is also limited. 52% of centers are affiliated with another facility and 48% are freestanding centers. The number of registered nurse at the nursing centers ranges from just one to 115, with a mean of eight RNs peragency and a median of three. Nursing centers avail ability varies: 14% are open 24 hours, 27% have variable short hours, 23% are open 6-7 days per week, and 36% are open Monday- Friday. As the result of my visiting three health centers in Seattle and San Francisco, the women's primary care nurse practitioners focus on a systematic and comprehensive assessment of the health status of women and diagnosis and management of common physical and psychosocial health concerns of women in ambulatory settings. Therapeutic nursing strategies are directed toward self-care, risk reoduction, health surveillance, stress reduction, healthy nutrition, social support, healthy coping, psychological well-being, and pharmacological therapy. They function as primary care providers for the well ness and illness care of women from adolescence through the older adult years and pregnant families. 2. In Korea a nurse-midwife practices independently for pregnant women's health including childbearing family at her own clinic in community. Her services are reimbursed under national health insurance but they are not paid on a fee-for-service schedule covering items. Analyzing the nursing centers in America, I suggest that nurse-midwifery clinics offer primary care for women and home care for chronic ill patients. The health law and health insurance policy should be reovised in order to expand nurse-midwife's and home care nurse's roles at nurse-midwifery clinic.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.106-119
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• 2024

Drug shortage is a persistent phenomenon that poses a public health risk worldwide and occurs due to a range of causes. The purpose of this study is to review key policies to prepare for and respond to drug shortages in selected countries, such as the United States, Canada, and some European countries in order to draw implications. This study reviewed the reports and articles derived from search engines and Google Scholar by using keywords such as drug shortage and stock-out. Over the last decade or so, the United States have strengthened requirements on advance notification for disruption and interruption of drug manufacturing, established the Inter-agency Drug Shortages Task Force to promote the communication and coordination of responses, and expedited drug regulatory processes. Similarly, Canada established the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee on drug shortages by involving representatives from central and local governments and private sectors. Canada also adopted a tiered approach to the communication of drug shortages based on the assessment of the severity of the shortage problem and released a detailed information guide on communication. In 2019, the joint task force between the European Medicines Agency and the Heads of Medicines Agencies issued guidelines on drug shortage communication in the European Economic Area. The countries reviewed in this paper focus on communication across different stakeholders for the monitoring of and timely response to drug shortages. The efforts to protect public health from the negative impact of the drug shortage crisis would require multi-sectorial and multi-governmental coordination and development of guidelines.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.66-74
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• 2022

Background: The health effects of particulate matter (PM_2.5) bonded with various harmful chemicals differ based on their composition, so investigating and managing their concentrations and composition is vital for long-term management. As industrial complexes emit considerable quantities of pollutants, higher PM_2.5 concentrations and chemical component effects are expected than in other places. Objectives: We investigated the concentration distribution ratios of PM_2.5 chemical components to provide basic data to inform future major emissions control and PM_2.5 reduction measures in industrial complexes. Methods: We monitored five sites near the Ansan and Siheung industrial complexes from August 2020 to July 2021. Samples were collected and analyzed twice per week in spring/winter and once per week in summer/autumn according to the National Institute of Environmental Research in the Ministry of Environments' Air Pollution Monitoring Network Installation and Operation Guidelines. We investigated and compared composition ratios of 29 ions, carbon, and elemental components in PM_2.5. Results: The analysis of PM_2.5 components at the five sites revealed that ion components accounted for the greatest total mass at approximately 50% while carbon components and elemental components contributed 23~28% and 8~10%, respectively. Among the ionic components, NO₃^- occupies the greatest proportion. OC occupies the greatest proportion of the carbon components and sulphur occupies the greatest proportion of elemental components. Conclusions: This study investigated the concentration distribution ratios of PM_2.5 chemical components in industrial complexes. We believe these results provide basic chemical component concentration ratio data for establishing future air management policies and plans for the Ansan and Siheung industrial complexes.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.237-248
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• 2024

Watershed runoff that is an important component of the hydrological processes has been significantly altered by climate variability and human activities in many watersheds around the world. It is important to investigate the impacts of climate variability and human activities on watershed runoff change for water resource management. In this study, using watershed runoff data for 109 middle-sized watersheds in Korea, the impacts of climate variability and human activities on watershed runoff change were quantitatively evaluated. Using the Pittitt test, the analysis period was divided into two sub-periods, and the impacts of climate variability and human activities on the watershed runoff change were quantified using the Budyko hypothesis-based climate elasticity method. The overall results indicated that the relative contribution of climate variability and human activities to the watershed runoff change varied by middle-sized watersheds, and the dominant factors on the watershed runoff change were identified for each watershed among climate variability and human activities. The results of this study enable us to predict the watershed runoff change considering climate variability and watershed development plans, which provides useful information for establishing a water resource management plan to reduce the risk of hydrological disasters such as drought or flood.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.267-277
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• 2014

Objective of this paper is to assess the available data on the pesticide uses and regulations in the golf courses, and provide the nationwide systematic management options. Numbers of golf courses in Korea are rapidly increasing from 2000s and reached at 421 sites by the end of 2011. Accordingly pesticide usage has been increased with years in direct proportion to the increasing number of golf courses. Amounts of pesticide applied in 2011 were 118,669 kg as of an active ingredient and were in the orders of fungicides (54.9%) > insecticides (24.4%) > herbicides (13.3%) > growth regulators (0.1%). Average pesticide usages in 2011 were 280.9 kg per golf course and $5.4kg\;ha^{-1}$. Frequencies of the residual pesticide detections in green and turf were higher than those in fairway and soil, respectively. Residue of highly toxic pesticides was not detected in golf courses. Ministry of Environment in 2010 has developed the 'golf course pesticide monitoring and management system' which is the advanced online registry for kind and amount of pesticides applied in each golf course. This system is intended for monitoring of the pesticide uses and residual levels and protecting the environmental pollution from pesticides in the golf course. In 2009, management of pesticides in the golf courses became the task of Ministry of Environment, being merged from many federal agency and ministries. The protocol for the site-specific best management practices, on which to base results from the risk assessment, should be set for pesticides in the golf to minimize the environmental impacts.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.13-21
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• 2016

Insolvency of construction companies that play the role of main contractors can lead to clients' losses due to non-fulfillment of construction contracts, and it can have negative effects on the financial soundness of construction companies and suppliers. The construction industry has the cash flow financial characteristic of receiving a project and getting payment based on the progress of the construction. As such, insolvency during project progress can lead to financial losses, which is why the prediction of construction companies is so important. The prediction of insolvency of Korean construction companies are often made through the KMV model from the KMV (Kealhofer McQuown and Vasicek) Company developed in the U.S. during the early 90s, but this model is insufficient in predicting construction companies because it was developed based on credit risk assessment of general companies and banks. In addition, the predictive performance of KMV value's insolvency probability is continuously being questioned due to lack of number of analyzed companies and data. Therefore, in order to resolve such issues, the Bayesian Probabilistic Approach is to be combined with the existing insolvency predictive probability model. This is because if the Prior Probability of Bayesian statistics can be appropriately predicted, reliable Posterior Probability can be predicted through ensured conditionality on the evidence despite the lack of data. Thus, this study is to measure the Expected Default Frequency (EDF) by utilizing the Bayesian Probabilistic Approach with the existing insolvency predictive probability model and predict the accuracy by comparing the result with the EDF of the existing model.

• The Journal of Sustainable Design and Educational Environment Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2020

Despite the legal and institutional measures that have been enacted for the safety management of school facilities, the number of school accidents has continued to rise, particularly in regards to the number of accidents related to schools. However, school facilities have had a difficult time creating safe school environments for the school administration and local governments. This is due to the fact that the Office of Education and the Ministry of Education, not the school or educational offices, have insufficient institutional devices such as standards and systems for the promotion of safe school environments. This study attempted to confirm the direction of the improvement of the safety of school facilities. To this end, four safety assessment topics (separation of pedestrians, pedestrian path management, pedestrian visibility, and surrounding risk factors) were derived based on the surveyed data for the safety of the external environment of domestic and international school facilities. 179 school facilities nationwide (kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and special schools) were analyzed for current cases of accidents that occurred mainly on school roads. Roughly 50% of the analyzed evaluation scores showed that it is necessary to improve the external environment of school facilities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.297-307
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• 2024

Coronary artery disease (CAD) narrows vessel lumens at the sites of atherosclerosis, increasing the risk of myocardial ischemia or infarction. Early and accurate diagnosis of CAD is crucial to significantly improve prognosis and management. CT angiography (CTA) is a noninvasive imaging technique that enables assessment of vascular structure and stenosis with high resolution and contrast. Coronary CTA is useful in the diagnosis of CAD. Recently, the CAD-reporting and data system (CAD-RADS), a diagnostic classification system based on coronary CTA, has been developed to improve intervention efficacy in patients suspected of CAD. While the CADRAD is based on CTA, it includes borderline categories where interpreting the coronary artery status solely based on CTA findings may be challenging. This review introduces CTA findings that fall within the CAD-RADS categories that necessitate additional tests to decide to perform invasive coronary angiography and discusses appropriate management strategies.