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An Evaluation on Health Conditions of Pyong-Chang River using the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) and Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index(QHEI) (생물보전지수(Index of Biological Integrity) 및 서식지 평가지수 (Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index)를 이용한 평창강의 수환경 평가)

  • Jung, Seung-Hyun;Choi, Shin-Sok;An, Kwang-Guk
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.34 no.3 s.95
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    • pp.153-165
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    • 2001
  • We evaluated the health condition of Pyong-Chang river, the tributary of Han- River, using the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) and Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) during September 1999${\sim}$August 2000. The annual mean of IBI, which was estimated using eleven metrics, was 49 (range: $45{\sim}51$) and the mean of QHEI, which was estimated using seven parameters, was 88 (range: $76{\sim}94$) during the study. The river health, based on the IBI criteria of Karr (1981), ranged from "excellent" to "good" conditions, while based on the habitat criteria of Plafkin et al. (1989), it ranged from "pristine" (comparable to reference) to "supporting" conditions. Values of IBI showed slight differences between upstream and downstream sites and QHEI values varied weakly depending on characteristics of variables. Regression analyses showed that annual values of QHEI had no functional relations with stream order (p = 1.82; n = 8) but showed some decreases near slight point-sources. This result indicates that conditions of physical habitat did not change highly with increases of the stream order. According to analyses of feed guilds, relative abundance of insectivores, omnivores and carnivores was 85.1%, 3.5% 0.3%, respectively. Also, relative abundance of sensitive and tolerant species was 75% and 4.6%, respectively, while exotic and morphological anomalies were not found in the river. These outcomes indicate that health condition of fish, based on the trophic conditions of U.S. EPA (1993), was excellent in the river. Regression analyses of IBI values against the QHEI showed that the variation of habitat conditions accounted 57% for the variation of the Index of Biological Integrity (p<0.05; $R^2\;=\;0.57$; n = 7).Overall data of IBI and QHEI suggest that the river health in the present is in optimal conditions but may be degradated by acceleration of chemical inputs and physical-habitat disturbance.

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A Diagnosis of Ecological Health Using a Physical Habitat Assessment and Multimetric Fish Model in Daejeon Stream (물리적 서식지평가기법 및 어류 다변수 평가모델에 의거한 대전천의 생태학적 건강도 진단)

  • Kim, Ja-Hyun;An, Kwang-Guk
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.38 no.3 s.113
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    • pp.361-371
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    • 2005
  • The objective of study was to diagnose integrative ecological health of Daejeon Stream, one of the tributaries of Guem River, during May 2004 ${\sim}$ April 2005. The research approach was primarily based on a Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) and the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) using fish assemblage. These outcomes were compared with conventional chemical dataset. For the experiment, four sampling sites were chosen from Daejeon Stream and long-term water quality data during 1995 ${\sim}$ 2004 (obtained from the Ministry of Environment) were analyzed in the spatial and temporal aspects. For the biological health assessment, we developed a stream health assessment model (SHA model) far regional applications. We found that current water quality conditions, based on the COD, BOD, TN and TP, were enhanced by 1.6 ${\sim}$ 5.3 fold over the period of 1995 ${\sim}$ 2004 and that the parameters showed a typical longitudinal decline from the upstream to downstream reach. The differences of water quality between the two reaches were more than 4.4 times, indicating a large spatial variations within the stream. The health conditions, based on the SHA model, averaged 23 and varied from 20 to 26 depending on the sampling stations. Values of the QHEI varied from 39 (Poor condition) to 124 (Cood condition)and values of QHEI in the reach of S2 ${\sim}$ S4 had significantly lower than in the headwater site (S1). Also, biological stream health, based on the criteria of US EPA (1993), was judged as 'Poor condition', in the S4 where TN, TP, BOD and COD were highest. In the meantime, maximum value of SHA (26) was found in the upstream reach (S1) where the water quality and QHEI were best. We also found that compositions of sensitive species showed a linear function with water quality conditions and this pattern was evident in the tolerant species. Thus, the biological stream health, based on the SHA model, matched well water chemistry. Overall outcomes suggest that the biological health impact was a function of chemical degradation and physical habitat quality in the stream.

Diagnostic Performance of HPV E6/E7 mRNA and HPV DNA Assays for the Detection and Screening of Oncogenic Human Papillomavirus Infection among Woman with Cervical Lesions in China

  • Wang, Hye-young;Lee, Dongsup;Park, Sunyoung;Kim, Geehyuk;Kim, Sunghyun;Han, Lin;Yubo, Ren;Li, Yingxue;Park, Kwang Hwa;Lee, Hyeyoung
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.17
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    • pp.7633-7640
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    • 2015
  • Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide and it is responsible for most cases of cervical uterine cancer. Although HPV infections of the cervix do not always progress to cancer, 90% of cervical cancer cases have been found to be associated with high risk HPV (HR-HPV) infection. HPV DNA testing is widely used, along with Papanicolaou (Pap) testing, to screen for cervical abnormalities. However, there are no data on the prevalence of genotype-specific HPV infections assessed by measuring HPV E6/E7 mRNA in women representative of the Chinese population across a broad age range. Materials and Methods: In the present study, we compared the results with the CervicGen HPV RT-qDx assay, which detects 16 HR-HPV genotypes (Alpha-9: HPV 16, 31, 33, 35, 52, and 58; Alpha-7: HPV 18, 39, 45, 51, 59, and 68; and Alpha-5, 6: HPV 53, 56, 66, and 69), and the REBA HPV-ID assay, which detects 32 HPV genotypes based on the reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA) for the detection of oncogenic HPV infection according to cytological diagnosis. We also investigated the prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV infection with a total of 324 liquid-based cytology samples collected in western Shandong province, East China. Results: The overall HPV prevalences determined by HPV DNA and HPV E6/E7 mRNA assays in this study were 79.9% (259/324) and 55.6% (180/324), respectively. Although the positivity of HPV E6/E7 mRNA expression was significantly lower than HPV DNA positivity, the HPV E6/E7 mRNA assay showed greater specificity than the HPV DNA assay (88.6% vs. 48.1%) in normal cytology samples. The prevalence of Alpha-9 (HPV 16, 31, 33, 35, 52, and 58) HPV infection among these women accounted for up to 80.3% and 76.1% of the high-grade lesions detected in the HPV mRNA and DNA tests, respectively. The HR-HPV genotype distribution, based on HPV DNA and E6/E7 mRNA expression by age group in patients with cytologically confirmed lesions, was highest in women aged 40 to 49 years (35.9% for cytologically confirmed cases, Pearson correlation r value=0.993, p<0.001) for high-grade lesions. Among the oncogenic HR-HPV genotypes for all age groups, there was little difference in the distribution of HPV genotypes between the HPV DNA (HPV -16, 53, 18, 58, and 33) and HPV E6/E7 mRNA (HPV -16, 53, 33, 58, and 18) assays. HPV 16 was the most common HPV genotype among women with high-grade lesions. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the HPV E6/E7 mRNA assay can be a sensitive and specific tool for the screening and investigation of cervical cancer. Furthermore, it may provide useful information regarding the necessity for early cervical cancer screenings and the development of additional effective HPV vaccines, such as one for HPV 53 and 58. Additionally, gaining knowledge of HPV distribution may also inform us about ecological changes in HPV after the vaccination.

The Quality of Teacher-child Interactions by Teachers' Perception of Professionalism and Teaching Intentions (교사의 전문성 인식, 교수 의도 행동에 따른 교사-영유아 상호작용)

  • Ju, Hyun Jeong;Shin, Hye Won
    • Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.1-15
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers' perception of professionalism, teaching intentions, and the quality of teacher-child interactions differed by teachers' education and career and how those variables were associated with one another. It was conducted in 50 teachers who were in charge of two- to five-year-olds at 22 national/public, private, and employer-supported childcare centers in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Arnett's (1989) Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS) translated by Choi and Shin (2015) was used to measure the quality of teacher-child interactions, and the Current Status and Self-Desire for Professional Competence scale developed by Wang (2005) and translated and revised by Jeong (2016) was used to measure a teacher's perception of professionalism. The Teaching Intention Scale (TIS) developed by Wilcox-Herzog and Ward (2004) and translated and revised by the researcher was used to measure teaching intentions. The researcher and the research assistant personally visited the centers to observe the teachers for the quality of teacher-child interactions and a questionnaire for teachers was used to determine a teacher's perception of professionalism and teaching intentions. For data analysis, t-test and Pearson's product-moment correlation analysis were performed on the basis of the questions. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: First, the quality of teacher-child interactions differed insignificantly by education or career. Second, teacher's perception of professionalism differed significantly by teachers' career but differed insignificantly by education: the longer career, the better perception of professionalism. Third, teaching intentions differed insignificantly by education or career. Fourth, teachers with better perception of professionalism showed higher quality of teacher-child interaction. Fifth, The higher level of teaching intentions teachers showed the more sensitive interactions they made with children.

Fish Distribution, Compositions and Community Structure Characteristics during Juksan-Weir Construction in Yeongsan River Watershed (영산강 수계에서 죽산보 건설 중의 어류 분포.종 조성 및 군집구조 특성)

  • Ko, Dae-Geun;Choi, Ji-Woong;Lim, Byung Jin;Park, Jong Hwan;An, Kwang-Guk
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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    • v.26 no.6
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    • pp.892-901
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    • 2012
  • The purpose of this research was to analyze fish fauna, distribution patterns, and fish community structures in the Juksan-Weir regions of upper weir(R-UW) and lower weir(R-LW), which was constructed in 2011 on Yeongsan River watershed. Our outcomes will provide valuable information in the impact analysis of weir constructions next decades, even if the current research is limited to distributions and fauna studies of fishes. The fishes observed were 8 family and 30 species in all the sites, and the number of the species in the regions of R-UW and R-LW was 23(938 individuals) and 27(1,680 individuals), respectively, indicating greater abundance in the lower region of Juksan-Weir. Most dominant species was Opsarichthys uncirostris amurensis with relative abundance of 42%, and this species had greater abundance in the R-LW(49%) than in the R-UW(30%). Coilia nasus, was the migratory fish sampled in this region and had no differences of abundance between the two regions. The extic species observed were Carassius cuvieri, Lepomis macrochirus, and Micropterus salmoides. The two formers of Carassius cuvieri(1.2%) and Lepomis macrochirus(3.7%) dominated in the R-UW, whereas Micropterus salmoides had greater dominance in the region of R-LW. According to tolerance guild analysis, the proportion of sensitive species ranged from 0.4 to 0.5%, and that of tolerant species ranged from 65% to 70%, implying a severe pollution of nutrients and organic matters in the water body. In the mean time, according to trophic guild analysis, the proportion of carnivores(57 - 77%) was evidently higher than that of insectivores(10 - 20%), indicating a dominance of the carnivores. Especially, high abundance of the bass, exotic species, may disturb the fish overall food chain, so the efficient ecosystem management may be required for the conservation of endemic species. When we examined fish data files of last 60 years, the species of Culter brevicauda, designated as endangered species, was observed firstly in our research area and the total number was 5 individuals(0.2% of the total). So, this region observed should be conserved as a protection zone and further monitoring studies should be done in the future.

Status of Fish Inhabitation and Distribution of Eight Abundant Species in Relation with Water Quality in Streams and Rivers, Ulsan City (울산 하천 및 강에서의 어류서식 현황 및 8개 대표종의 이화학적 수질 내성범위)

  • Seo, Jin-Won;Lim, In-Soo;Kim, Ho-Joon;Lee, Hye-Keun
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.41 no.3
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    • pp.283-293
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    • 2008
  • The objectives of the study were firstly to provide fundamental data for establishment of total maximum daily load (TMDL) management in Ulsan City, and secondly to make practical application of stream health assessment with tolerance range by each species when physiochemical and fish investigations were carried out together. A total of 44 sites in Taehwa River, Hoiya River, Dong Stream, and Cheongryang Stream were selected to monitor water qualities seasonally and fish investigation was performed in August 2006. Among the parameters of water quality, biological oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) related to respiration, total nitrogen (T-N) and total phosphorus (T-P) related to nutrient and eutrophication, and total suspended solids (TSS) and $NH_4$-N were compared with vertical box plot by 8 dominant species. According to the fish investigation, 12 families 33 species were found including endangered species (Pungitius kaibarae) and introduced species (Lepomis macrochirus, Micropterus salmoides), and appearance rate of Korean endemic species was greater in Taehwa River (29.2%) than others. As the results of tolerance range by species, Zacco koreanus, Rhynchocypris oxycephalus, Iksookimia longicorpa, and Squalidus gracilis majimae had limited low range by water quality parameters indicating preference of good water quality. Whereas, Carassius auratus and Pseudorasbora parva were found downstream and urban-streams which were exposed from frequent inflow of pollutants. It concludes that the results help distinguishing sensitive, intermediate, and tolerant species when we evaluate stream health assessment with fish, and further making practical application for conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystem.

Measurement of δ-Aminolevulinic Acid in Urine by Fluorometric HPLC and Colorimetric Methods (비색법과 HPLC 법에 의한 요중 δ-Aminolevulinic acid의 측정치 비교)

  • Ahn, Kyu-Dong;Yeon, You-Yong;Lee, Byung-Kook
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.17-24
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    • 1994
  • The urinary excretion of ${\delta}$-aminolevulinic acid has been widely used as a measure of the biological effect of lead in lead exposed workers. It is usually measured by colorimetric method based on the color reaction of ALA-pyrrole with Ehrlich's reagent. But the results of ${\delta}$-ALA in urine by this method are somewhat artificially higher than expected due to the urinary ALA-like compound such as aminoacetone. On the other hand, the recently developed fluorometric HPLC method is very sensitive and specific for the measuring urinary ALA. In order to compare the data obtained by two methods and to investigate the interrelation between two methods, 117 lead workers with different lead exposure were checked urinary ${\delta}$-ALA, blood lead and other lead exposure related indices. The results obtained are as follows; 1. Urinary excretion of ${\delta}$-ALA by colorimetric method is 2.15 times higher than HPLC method in overall, revealing 2.47 times in workers of blood lead less than $20{\mu}g/dl$, 2.53 times in workers of blood lead $21-40{\mu}g/dl$ and 1.86 times in workers of blood lead over $41{\mu}g/dl$, respectively. 2. While the correlation coefficients of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by colorimetric method with blood lead and blood ZPP was 0.571 and 0.629, those of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by HPLC with blood lead and blood ZPP were 0.6l0 and 0.637. All the correlation coefficients were statistically significant, but there was no statistical difference of correlation coefficients between two methods. 3. The correlation coefficient of urinary excretion of ${\delta}$-ALA between two method was 0.838 without any correction, but it was 0.852 with the correction of specific gravity 1.024. 4. Simple linear regression of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by HPLC method on ${\delta}$-ALA measured by colorimetric method was (ALA-UPH)=-0.245+0.536 (ALA-UCO) without any correction and it was (SP ALA)=-0.525+0.598 (SP ALA-UCO) with the correction of specific gravity 1.024. With above results, it is recommended that the diagnostic criteria of ${\delta}$-ALA for lead poisoning needed to be revised if ${\delta}$-ALA is measured by HPLC rather than colorimetric method.

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Comparison of Results between Tuberculin Skin Test and QuantiFERON®-TB In-Tube Assay for Diagnosis of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Children and Adolescents (소아청소년에서의 잠복결핵감염 진단을 위한 결핵 피부반응검사와 QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube 검사와의 결과 비교)

  • Choi, Jong-Won;Kim, Min-Sung;Kim, Jong-Hyun
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.17-27
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    • 2013
  • Purpose: Recently, two tests are commercially available for the identification of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI): tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon-${\gamma}$ release assay (IGRA). Due to its false positiveness, TST tends to be preferred by IGRA until now. In our study, we simultaneously performed both TST and QuantiFERON$^{(R)}$-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) and compared their results. Methods: TST and QFT-GIT were done for the diagnosis of LTBI among children who visited pediatric out-patient clinic at St. Vincent's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea from February of 2007 to May of 2008. The study group was stratified into two groups in terms of whether there was intrafamilial contact or not. Results: Out of total 35 children, 29 were tuberculosis (TB)-exposed cases and the remainders were diagnosed as clinical pulmonary TB. Among these 29 children, TST was positive 38.9% (7/18) for the intrafamilial and 45.5% (5/11) for the nonintrafamilial, and at the same time, the result for QFT-GIT was positive 5.6% (1/18) and 9.1% (1/11), respectively which implies that TST was more sensitive than QFT-GIT. Among 29 TB-exposed cases, 26 initially went through TST and QFTGIT together on their first visit to out-patient clinic, and 15 continued the follow-up tests. Out of total 41 cases collected, the agreement (known as kappa value) was 0.063 which was relatively low. Including 6 cases with pulmonary TB who were all positive for TST and only 5 being positive for QFT-GIT, the final kappa value was 0.334. Conclusion: In our study, the agreement for TST and QFT-GIT was low, and the majorities were almost the cases of positive TST. In current situation with lacking a gold standard test and limited data on children to adolescents, this result is quite alarming that the recent trend tends to replace TST by QFT-GIT when diagnosing LTBI.

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DEVELOPMENT OF SAFETY-BASED LEVEL-OF-SERVICE CRITERIA FOR ISOLATED SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS (독립신호 교차로에서의 교통안전을 위한 서비스수준 결정방법의 개발)

  • Dr. Tae-Jun Ha
    • Proceedings of the KOR-KST Conference
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    • 1995.02a
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    • pp.3-32
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    • 1995
  • The Highway Capacity Manual specifies procedures for evaluating intersection performance in terms of delay per vehicle. What is lacking in the current methodology is a comparable quantitative procedure for ass~ssing the safety-based level of service provided to motorists. The objective of the research described herein was to develop a computational procedure for evaluating the safety-based level of service of signalized intersections based on the relative hazard of alternative intersection designs and signal timing plans. Conflict opportunity models were developed for those crossing, diverging, and stopping maneuvers which are associated with left-turn and rear-end accidents. Safety¬based level-of-service criteria were then developed based on the distribution of conflict opportunities computed from the developed models. A case study evaluation of the level of service analysis methodology revealed that the developed safety-based criteria were not as sensitive to changes in prevailing traffic, roadway, and signal timing conditions as the traditional delay-based measure. However, the methodology did permit a quantitative assessment of the trade-off between delay reduction and safety improvement. The Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) specifies procedures for evaluating intersection performance in terms of a wide variety of prevailing conditions such as traffic composition, intersection geometry, traffic volumes, and signal timing (1). At the present time, however, performance is only measured in terms of delay per vehicle. This is a parameter which is widely accepted as a meaningful and useful indicator of the efficiency with which an intersection is serving traffic needs. What is lacking in the current methodology is a comparable quantitative procedure for assessing the safety-based level of service provided to motorists. For example, it is well¬known that the change from permissive to protected left-turn phasing can reduce left-turn accident frequency. However, the HCM only permits a quantitative assessment of the impact of this alternative phasing arrangement on vehicle delay. It is left to the engineer or planner to subjectively judge the level of safety benefits, and to evaluate the trade-off between the efficiency and safety consequences of the alternative phasing plans. Numerous examples of other geometric design and signal timing improvements could also be given. At present, the principal methods available to the practitioner for evaluating the relative safety at signalized intersections are: a) the application of engineering judgement, b) accident analyses, and c) traffic conflicts analysis. Reliance on engineering judgement has obvious limitations, especially when placed in the context of the elaborate HCM procedures for calculating delay. Accident analyses generally require some type of before-after comparison, either for the case study intersection or for a large set of similar intersections. In e.ither situation, there are problems associated with compensating for regression-to-the-mean phenomena (2), as well as obtaining an adequate sample size. Research has also pointed to potential bias caused by the way in which exposure to accidents is measured (3, 4). Because of the problems associated with traditional accident analyses, some have promoted the use of tqe traffic conflicts technique (5). However, this procedure also has shortcomings in that it.requires extensive field data collection and trained observers to identify the different types of conflicts occurring in the field. The objective of the research described herein was to develop a computational procedure for evaluating the safety-based level of service of signalized intersections that would be compatible and consistent with that presently found in the HCM for evaluating efficiency-based level of service as measured by delay per vehicle (6). The intent was not to develop a new set of accident prediction models, but to design a methodology to quantitatively predict the relative hazard of alternative intersection designs and signal timing plans.

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A Study of the Evolving Process of Wealthy Major Donors' Sharing Lives in Korea (부유층의 기부과정에 관한 연구)

  • Kang, Chul-Hee;Kim, Mi-Ok
    • Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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    • v.59 no.2
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    • pp.5-38
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    • 2007
  • This study attempts to develop a theory on the evolving process of wealthy major donors' sharing lives in Korea through a grounded theory approach. To conduct this study, the researchers have in-depth interviews with 11 exemplary wealthy major donors who have more than one million US dollars in his or her own asset and donate more than ten thousand US dollars annually. In data analysis, this study identifies 161 concepts on the evolving process of wealthy major donors' sharing lives; and the concepts are categorized with 33 sub-categories and 14 categories. In the paradigm model on the evolving process of wealthy major donors' sharing lives, it is identified that the central phenomenon, 'practicing sharing lives as noblesse oblige', is related with the causal conditions such as 'learning through memories and observation', 'realizing my duties', and 'emphasizing'; and the central phenomenon is related with the contingent conditions such as 'being sensitive to external evaluation', 'having limited information on giving', 'distrusting donation related environments'. The action/interactional sequences such as 'utilizing relationships' and 'strengthening active participation' are accomplished by moderating conditions such as 'having internal and external supports' and 'guiding by firm conviction'. It reveals that as a result, wealthy major donors enjoy the feeling of becoming a ideal and true wealthy person, establish sharing lives as firm and major parts of overall lives, and experience strong desires for better future and society. In this study, 'generous sharing that shares personal heritages and social benefits' is analyzed as a core category; it shows that sharing of wealthy major donors is related to the characteristics of generosity practice based on moral self-benefiting rather than complete altruistic characteristics or self-sacrificial characteristics. The process analysis reveals that it has the following stages: first, initial giving by exposure to causes or requests; second, routine practice of giving; third, evolution of practice of giving with gradual expansion in quantities and qualities; and fourth, living with giving. In the process, the following four types are identified: devoted wealthy donors for sharing, wealthy donors practicing sharing in daily life, wealthy donors practicing sharing with learning on external stimulus, and wealthy donors practicing sharing on empathy. Finally, this study discusses both meanings of identifying and developing a theory on the evolving process of wealthy major donors' sharing lives and implications of the research results in cultivating and developing potential wealthy major donors in Korea.

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