• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2002

The work presents a realistic human exposure assessment of indoor radon released from groundwater in a house. At first, a two-compartment model is developed to describe the generation and transfer of radon in indoor air from groundwater. The model is used to estimate radon concentrations profile of indoor air in a house us]ng by showering, washing clothes, and flushing toilets. Then, the study performs an uncertainty analysis of model input parameters to quantify the uncertainty in radon concentration profile. In order to estimate a daily internal dose of a specific tissue group in an adult through the inhalation of such indoor radon, 3 PBPK(Physiologically-Based Pharmaco-Kinetic) model is developed. Combining indoor radon profile and PBPK model is used to a realistic human assessment for such exposure. The results obtained from this study would be used to the evaluation of human risk by inhalation associated with the indoor radon released from groundwater.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2023

Efforts to employ smart home sensors to monitor the indoor activities of elderly single residents have been made to assess the feasibility of a safe and healthy lifestyle. However, the bathroom remains an area of blind spot. In this study, we have developed and evaluated a new edge computer device that can automatically detect water usage activities in the bathroom and record the activity log on a cloud server. Three kinds of sound as flushing, showering, and washing using wash basin generated during water usage were recorded and cut into 1-second scenes. These sound clips were then converted into a 2-dimensional image using MEL-spectrogram. Sound data augmentation techniques were adopted to obtain better learning effect from smaller number of data sets. These techniques, some of which are applied in time domain and others in frequency domain, increased the number of training data set by 30 times. A deep learning model, called CRNN, combining Convolutional Neural Network and Recurrent Neural Network was employed. The edge device was implemented using Raspberry Pi 4 and was equipped with a condenser microphone and amplifier to run the pre-trained model in real-time. The detected activities were recorded as text-based activity logs on a Firebase server. Performance was evaluated in two bathrooms for the three water usage activities, resulting in an accuracy of 96.1% and 88.2%, and F1 Score of 96.1% and 87.8%, respectively. Most of the classification errors were observed in the water sound from washing. In conclusion, this system demonstrates the potential for use in recording the activities as a lifelog of elderly single residents to a cloud server over the long-term.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 2005

$SnO_2$ films were prepared at room temperature under a $(CH_3)_4Sn-H_2-O_2$ atmosphere in order to obtain transparent conductive polymer by using ECR-MOCVD (Electron Cyclotron resonance -Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) system. The electrical properties of the films were investigated as function of process parameters such as deposition time, microwave power, magnetic current power, magnet/showering/substrate distance and working pressure. An increase in microwave power and magnetic current power brought on $SnO_2$ film formation with low electric resistivity. On the other hand, the effects of process parameters described above on optical properties were insignificant in the range of our experimental scope. The transmittance and reflectance of the films prepared by the ECR-MOCVD exhibited their average values of 93-98% at wave length range of 380-780 nm and 0.1-0.5%, respectively. The grain size of the $SnO_2$ films that are also insensitive with the process parameters were in the range of 20-50 nm. On the basis of experimental data obtained in the present study, electrical resistivity of $7.5{\times}10^{-3}ohm{\cdot}cm$, transmittance of 93%, and reflectance of 0.2% can be taken as optimum values.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.577-582
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• 2011

Greenhouse satsuma mandarins (Citrus unshiu Marc., cv. Gungchun) of an early harvesting cultivar were treated by hot water showering at 65$^{\circ}C$ for 10 s at a commercial scale in a packing house and then stored at 5$^{\circ}C$ for 3 weeks and subsequently at 18$^{\circ}C$ for 1 week (simulated shelf-life) to examine the potential use of hot water treatment (HWT) as an environmentally benign method to maintain mandarin quality characteristics during postharvest storage and sale. The respiration rate just after heat treatment or during storage was at a similar level in both the treated and untreated fruit. HWT also had no detrimental effects on quality attributes including pH, titratable acidity, soluble solids content, weight loss, firmness, and peel color. The development of stem-end rot, mold decay, and black rot was lower in the heat-treated fruit compared to those in the untreated control. A sensory evaluation showed that HWT markedly improved fruit appearance, making the fruit cleaner and glossier. The results suggested that HWT can be applied to satsuma mandarin as an effective pretreatment to maintain postharvest quality during storage and marketing.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.11 no.1_2
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• pp.19-29
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• 1996

Human exposure to volatile compounds in tap water can occur from inhalation and dermal absorption as well as direct ingestion. The relative contribution to total human exposure from these pathways has been considered to be important especially for VOC's (volatile organic compounds). In an attempt to reduce the uncertainty of the risk assessment, it has been suggested that the exposure assessment process could be significantly improved by adopting Monte-Carlo simulation. However, there is no actual data in Korea for each exposure parameter to determine the level of exposure, and the distributional pattern. Therefore, we surveyed water use patterns and behavior related to multi-route exposure to VOC's in household tap water in Korea, and compared these values to the those in western countries. In the first survey, we calculated daily water intake using data from a sample of 1322 persons of several cities in Korea. In the second survey, we obtained questionnaire data on exposure time for showering, bathing and household activities, and tap water intake from 851households in Korea. In the last survey, we measured the exposure parameters (exposure time, water use rate etc.) related to showers, baths, toilets, dish washing, washing and cooking, and tap water intake was surveyed. Also, the subjects were measured their body weight, height and tidal volume, etc. A diary, a flow meter and a measuring cup were used to measure these values as precisely as possible. Average daily water intake was ranged 0.79-1.71 L/day for adults in three surveys. Tap water intake measured by log-sheet during one week in third survey was 1.26 (average), 1.98 L/day (90 percentlie), respectively. These results were comparable with results from EPA (1.4, 2L/day). The average amount of water used by housewives in the third survey was 515.0 $\pm$ 564.6L/day. In usual activity, the amount of water used in the bathroom, the laundry and the kitchen was 140.0 $\pm$ 538.9, 148.0 $\pm$ 174.5, 229.3 $\pm$ 205.4 L/day, respectively. Exposure parameters such as water intake rate, exposure duration, body weight, inhalation rates in surveyed data of Korean people differed from those published from western countries. This could be attributed to variations in lifestyle, dietary habits and physiological characteristics.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.437-442
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• 2013

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of drive-assisting system in a shower carrier on the upper body muscle activities of caregivers through drivability tests. Background: In care facilities, one of the major ADL (Activities of Daily Living) factors is bathing/showering. Recently, bath/shower-assisting equipment is actively being introduced in care facilities to reduce caregivers' muscle burden. In particular, it is desirable to utilize a shower carrier equipped with drive-assisting system to effectively care for the elderly. However, there were few systematic studies on the relationship between muscle activities and drive-assisting speeds. Method: For the drivability tests to study the effects on the muscle activities according to the drive-assisting speeds(corresponding drive-voltages: 0.0V, 2.0V, 2.1V, 2.3V), 6 females in their 40s($43{\pm}4yrs$, $157{\pm}5cm$, and $54.5{\pm}1.5kg$) were selected. To measure muscle activities of caregivers through drivability tests, 7 muscles in the upper body(TM/Trapezius Muscle, DM/Deltoid Muscle, BBM/Biceps Brachii Muscle, TBM/Triceps Brachii Muscle, ECRLM/Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus Muscle, FCUM/Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Muscle, and ESM/Erector Spinae Muscle) were selected. Results: In the TM, muscle activities were decreased as 21% compared to 0.0V, when drive-voltage 2.0V was applied, as 57% by 2.1V, and 62% by 2.3V(p<0.05), whereas 40%, 56%, and 69% of muscles activities were decreased respectively from the DM(p<0.05). Also, from the UL(BBM+TBM+ECRLM+FCUM), muscle activities were decreased by 17% with 2.0V as against 0.0V, by 47% with 2.1V, and 52% with 2.3V, whereas decreases in muscle activities from the ESM were found by 20%, 34%, and 42% respectively by 2.0V, 2.1V, and 2.3V(p<0.05). Conclusion: The muscle activities were decreased in the order of the DM, TM, ESM, and UL. As muscle activities were remarkably reduced as drive voltage were increased, it was expected to reduce the upper body muscle burden on the caregivers when using shower carriers equipped with driving-assist system. Applications: The results from this study can be applied for the development of a shower carrier including other equipment to possibly reduce the muscle burden of the caregivers.