• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2017

'The worstest environment disaster', 'World's first biocide massacre', 'Home-based Sewol ferry disaster' are all phrases attached to the recent humidifier disinfectant disaster. In the spring of 2011, four of 8 pregnant women including 1 adult man passed away at a university hospital in Seoul due to breathing failure. Epidemiologic investigation conducted by the Korean CDC soon revealed the inhalation of humidifier disinfectant, which had been widely used in Korea during the winter, to be responsible for the disease. As well as lung fibrosis hardening of the lungs, other diseases including asthma, rhinitis, skin disease, liver disease, fetal disease or cancers have been researched for their relation with exposure to the products. By February 9, 2017, 5,342 cases had registered for health problems and 1,131 of them were already dead (20.8% mortality rate). Based on studies by government agencies and a telephone survey of the general population by Seoul National University and civic groups, around 20% of the general public of Korea has used these products. Since the market release of the first product by SK Chemical in 1994, over 7.1 million items from around 20 brands were sold up to 2011. Most of the products were manufactured by well-known large conglomerates such as SK, Lotte, Samsung, Shinsegye, LG, and GS, as well as some European companies including UK-based Reckitt Benckiser and TESCO, the German firm Henkel, the Danish firm KeTox, and an Irish company. Even though this disaster was unveiled in 2011 by the Korean government, the issue of the victims was neglected for over five years. In 2016, an unexpected but intensive investigation by prosecutors found that Reckitt Benckiser manipulated and concealed animal tests for its own brand and brought several university experts and company employees to court. The matter was an intense social issue in Korea from May to June with a surge in media coverage. The prosecutor's investigation and a nationwide boycott campaign organized by victims and environmental groups against Reckitt Benckiser, whose product had been used by more than 70% of victims, led to the producer's official apology and a compensation scheme. A legislative investigation organized after the April 2016 national election revealed the producers' faults and the government's responsibility, but failed to meet expectations. A special law for the victims passed the National Assembly in January 2017 and a punitive system together with a massive environmental epidemiology investigation are expected to be the only solutions for this tragedy. Sciences of medicine, toxicology and environmental health have provided decisive evidence so far, but for the remaining problems the perspectives of social sciences such as sociology and jurisprudence are highly necessary, similar to with the Minamata disease and Wonjin Rayon events. It may not be easy to follow this issue using unfamiliar terminology from medical and chemical science and the long, complicated history of the event. For these reasons the author has attempted to write this article in a question and answer format to render it easier to follow. The 17 questions are: Q1 What is humidifier disinfectant? Q2 What kind of health problems are caused by humidifier disinfectant? Q3 How many victims are there? Q4 What is the analysis of the 1,112 cases of death? Q5 What is the problem with the government's diagnostic criteria and the solution? Q6 Who made what brands? Q7 Has there been a recall? What is still on sale? Q8 Was safety not checked by any producers? Q9 What are the government's responsibilities? Q10 Is it true that these products were sold only in Korea? Q11 Why and how was it unveiled only in 2011 after 17 years of sales? Q12 What delayed the resolution of the victim issue? Q13 What is the background of the prosecutor's investigation in early 2016? Q14 Is it possible to report new victim cases without evidence of product purchase? Q15 What is happening with the victim issue? Q16 How does it compare with the cases of Minamata disease and Wonjin Rayon? Q17 Are there prevention measures and lessons?

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.48-73
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• 1986

Though the tradition of Korean mathematics since the ancient time up to the 'Enlightenment Period' in the late 19th century had been under the influence of the Chinese mathematics, it strove to develop its own independent of Chinese. However, the fact that it couldn't succeed to form the independent Korean mathematics in spite of many chances under the reign of Kings Sejong, Youngjo, and Joungjo was mainly due to the use of Chinese characters by Koreans. Han-gul (Korean characters) invented by King Sejong had not been used widely as it was called and despised Un-mun and Koreans still used Chinese characters as the only 'true letters' (Jin-suh). The correlation between characters and culture was such that, if Koreans used Han-gul as their official letters, we may have different picture of Korean mathematics. It is quite interesting to note that the mathematics in the 'Enlightenment Period' changed rather smoothly into the Western mathematics at the time when Han-gul was used officially with Chinese characters. In Koryo, the mathematics existed only as a part of the Confucian refinement, not as the object of sincere study. The mathematics in Koryo inherited that of the Unified Shilla without any remarkable development of its own, and the mathematicians were the Inner Officials isolated from the outside world who maintained their positions as specialists amid the turbulence of political changes. They formed a kind of Guild, their posts becoming patrimony. The mathematics in Koryo significant in that they paved the way for that of Chosun through a few books of mathematics such as 'Sanhak-Kyemong', 'Yanghwi-Sanpup' and 'Sangmyung-Sanpup'. King Sejong was quite phenomenal in his policy of promotion of mathematics. King himself was deeply interested in the study, createing an atmosphere in which all the high ranking officials and scholars highly valued mathematics. The sudden development of mathematic culture was mainly due to the personality and capacity of king who took anyone with the mathematic talent into government service regardless of his birth and against the strong opposition of the conservative officials. However, King's view of mathematics never resulted in the true development of mathematics perse and he used it only as an official technique in the tradition way. Korean mathematics in King Sejong's reign was based upon both the natural philosophy in China and the unique geo-political reality of Korean peninsula. The reason why the mathematic culture failed to develop continually against those social background was that the mathematicians were not allowed to play the vital role in that culture, they being only the instrument for the personality or politics of the king. While the learned scholar class sometimes played the important role for the development of the mathematic culture, they often as not became an adamant barrier to it. As the society in Chosun needed the function of mathematics acutely, the mathematicians formed the settled class called Jung-in (Middle-Man). Jung-in was a unique class in Chosun and we can't find its equivalent in China or Japan. These Jung-in mathematician officials lacked tendency to publish their study, since their society was strictly exclusive and their knowledge was very limited. Though they were relatively low class, these mathematicians played very important role in Chosun society. In 'Sil-Hak (the Practical Learning) period' which began in the late 16th century, especially in the reigns of Kings Youngjo and Jungjo, which was called the Renaissance of Chosun, the ambitious policy for the development of science and technology called for. the rapid increase of he number of such technocrats as mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Amid these social changes, the Jung-in mathematicians inevitably became quite ambitious and proud. They tried to explore deeply into mathematics perse beyond the narrow limit of knowledge required for their office. Thus, in this period the mathematics developed rapidly, undergoing very important changes. The characteristic features of the mathematics in this period were: Jung-in mathematicians' active study an publication, the mathematic studies by the renowned scholars of Sil-Hak, joint works by these two classes, their approach to the Western mathematics and their effort to develop Korean mathematics. Toward the 'Enlightenment Period' in the late 19th century, the Western mathematics experienced great difficulty to take its roots in the Peninsula which had been under the strong influence of Confucian ideology and traditional Korean mathematic system. However, with King Kojong's ordinance in 1895, the traditional Korean mathematics influenced by Chinese disappeared from the history of Korean mathematics, as the school system was hanged into the Western style and the Western mathematics was adopted as the only mathematics to be taught at the Schools of various levels. Thus the 'Enlightenment Period' is the period in which Korean mathematics shifted from Chinese into European.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.142-154
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• 2016

Worldwide production of mushrooms has been increasing by 10-20% every year. Recently, Pleurotus eryngii and P. nebrodensis have become popular mushroom species for cultivation. In particular, China exceeded 8.7 million tons in 2002, which accounted for 71.5% of total world output. A similar trend was also observed in Korea. Two kinds of mushrooms-Gumji (金芝; Ganoderma) and Seoji-are described in the ancient book 'Samguksagi' (History of the three kingdoms; B.C 57~A.D 668; written by Bu Sik Kim in 1145) during the Korea-dynasty. Many kinds of mushrooms are also described in more than 17 ancient books during the Chosun-dynasty (1392~1910) in Korea. Approximately 200 commercial strains of 38 species of mushrooms were developed and distributed to cultivators. The somatic hybrid variety of oyster mushroom, 'Wonhyeong-neutari,' was developed by protoplast fusion, and distributed to growers in 1989. Further, the production of mushrooms as food was 199,829 metric tons, valued at 850 billion Korean Won (one trillion won if mushroom factory products are included) in 2015. In Korea, the major cultivated species are P. ostreatus, P. eryngii, Flammulina velutipes, Lentinula edodes, Agaricus bisporus, and Ganoderma lucidum, which account for 90% of the total production. Since mushroom export was initiated in 1960, the export and import of mushrooms have increased in Korea. Technology was developed for liquid spawn production, and automatic cultivation systems led to the reduction of production cost, resulting in the increase in mushroom export. However, some species were imported owing to high production costs for effective cultivation methods. In academia, RDA scientists have conducted mushroom genome projects since 1997. One of the main outcomes is the whole genome sequencing of Flammulina velutipes for molecular breeding. With regard to medicinal mushrooms, we have been conducting genome research on Cordyceps and its related species for developing functional foods. There are various kinds of beneficial substances in mushrooms; mushroom products, including pharmaceuticals, tonics, healthy beverages, functional biotransformants, and processed foods have also became available on the market. In addition, compost and feed can likewise be made from mushroom substrates after harvest.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.4
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• pp.77-104
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• 2006

The propaganda paintings in oil colors or in forms of posters made from 1949 to 1966 have gone through some changes experiencing the influence of the Soviet Union Art and discussion of nationalization, while putting political messages of the time in the picture planes. The propaganda paintings which have been through this process became an effective means of encouraging the illiterate people in political ideologies, production, and learning. Alike other propaganda paintings in different mediums, the ones which were painted in oil colors and in the form of posters have been produced fundamentally based on Mao Zedong's intensification of the literary art on the talks on literature at Yenan. Yet, the oil paintings and posters were greatly influenced by the socialist realism and propaganda paintings of the Soviet Union, compared to other propaganda paintings in different mediums. Accordingly, they were preponderantly dealt in the discussions of nationalization of the late '50s. To devide in periods, the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949 as a diverging point, the propaganda paintings made before and after 1949 have differences in subject matters and styles. In the former period, propaganda paintings focused on the political lines of the Communists and enlightenment of the people, but in the latter period, the period of Cultural Revolution, the most important theme was worshiping Mao Zedong. This was caused by reflection of the social atmosphere, and it is shown that the propaganda painters had reacted sensitively to the alteration of politics and the society. On the side of formalities, the oil paintings and posters made before the Cultural Revolution were under a state of unfolding several discussions including nationalization while accepting the Soviet Union styles and contents, and the paintings made afterwards show more of unique characteristics of China. In 1956, the discussion about nationalization which had effected the whole world of art, had strongly influenced the propaganda paintings in oil colors more than anything. There were two major changes in the process of making propaganda paintings in oil colors. One was to portray lives of the Chinese people truthfully, and the other was to absorb the Chinese traditional styles of expression. After this period, the oil painters usually kept these rules in creating their works, and as a result, the subject matters, characters, and backgrounds have been greatly Sinicized. For techniques came the flat colored surface of the new year prints and the traditional Chinese technique of outlining were used for expressing human figures. While the propaganda paintings in oil colors achieved high quality and depth, the posters had a very direct representation of subject matters and the techniques were unskilled compared to the oil paintings. However, after the establishment of People's Republic of China, the posters were used more than any other mediums for propagation of national policy and participation of the political movements, because it was highly effective in delivering the policies and political lines clearly to the Chinese people who were mostly illiterate. The poster painters borrowed techniques and styles from the Soviet Union through books and exhibitions on Soviet Union posters, and this relation of influences constantly appears in the posters made at the time. In this way, like the oil paintings, the posters which have been made with a direct influence of the Soviet Union had developed a new, sinicised process during the course of nationalization. The propaganda paintings in oil colors or in forms of posters, which had undergone the discussion of nationalization, had put roots deep down in the lives of the Chinese people, and this had become another foundation for the amplification of influences of political propaganda paintings in the following period of Cultural Revolution.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.44
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• pp.143-161
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• 2016

This study was conducted focusing on the role of auteurism animation. The purpose of auteurism animation is to criticize irregularities of a society in witty and fierce way through satires from the sharp perspectives of a animator that is not bound by tastes of people or the interests or standpoints of specific groups, and thus to induce positive changes in a society as a purifier. In the context, this study investigated satires shown in by Jan Svankmajer and by Norman Mclaren among the animators who utilize animation as a tool to produce social meaning. As a result, the following characteristics and meanings were found. First, Dimensions of Dialogue is an animation that satires absurdity and irregularities of a human society in symbolic and exceptional way through directing by segmentations of images and omnibus structures. The satire carries the lesson of improvement in the hidden part of cynical attack to history, society, and human beings. It also maximizes absolute reality and engagement of images of Jan Svankmajer through unique and grotesque images of the animator such as alienated world, confusing shapes, and amusement of irregularities. Second, the movie, is an exemplary animation that applied core concept of animation through pixilation techniques based on an event story structure by causal relationship. It satires the changing process of a good man to violent madness through confrontation and conflicts for material desires, with exaggerated slipstick movements and humors as a black comedy. The satire methods of both animation works are delivered through unique image styles and symbolic wordage of the animators who triggered ironical laughter in attacking humanism and moral insensitivity that might be felt seriously otherwise. That is, the animators try to show the positive will for changing the society to a sound one through the form of negativity in terms of moral perspective in animation rather than destruction against the target. As such, the satires in both works worked as an auteurism allegory that maximizes social functions and artistic influence of animation.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.129-146
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• 2012

Recently, Korea became the 7th country in the world which has got into the 20-50 clubs that means the population is 50 million and per capital income is $20,000. From the view point of the retail industry, it suggests that Korea should have its own self-sufficient market by itself. With abundant labor and increased disposable income, it made the consumer's needs change. Responding to the change, retail and F&B oriented retail malls are now starting to add culture, art and entertainment facilities in the configurations. Such complexity and variety of the shopping malls became trendy and many shopping complexes are scheduled to open in the near future across the country. Due to above reasons, it became the common trend to develop shopping complex all over the cities now. However, the history of the shopping mall in Korea is much shorter than developed countries such as America and Japan. Thereby, a lot of problems, trial and error have occurred in the process of developing and operating them. If development of shopping complex failed, it would return lots of damages to the stakeholder. Therefore, the corporations should develop the mall properly and government might support positively. In this study, we would like to propose on how all the mall should be developed and well managed and what are the ways for the vitalizing factors of the shopping complex after benchmarking other shopping mall cases. Through the case study, we realized that the most crucial factors for vitalizing shopping complex were interior design, merchandising and how well they operate the mall. In case of the failed shopping mall, developers sell each store to individual proprietors and never take care of them after they get the profit, which make it hard to have integrated marketing strategies. That causes the overall slump of the mall. Corporations developing the mall should operate it as well, so that it could be possible to make the mall consistently well managed and promoted. There is a certificate for the shopping mall expert in The States and Japan. However, we do not have this kind of certificate. In fact, if we judge the capability of a person who is involved in the shopping mall industry, we usually measure how many years they stick to the same industries and that is not equally the same as their competence. Therefore it is necessary to organize "Shopping Mall Associate" and introduce shopping mall license for the mall expert. Due to retail trends, we can easily see a lot of shopping facilities all over the cities but not every mall is able to be successful. We think it's essential that the government should certify the malls which are qualified for the design, merchandising and proficiency of the operation. For the qualified mall, the government could confer a benefit on the company such as reducing corporation taxes. In multi-complex shopping mall it is possible to make convenient for customers. However, if a mall failed to succeed, it would be disaster. To build a shopping complex, developers should invest huge money even take out loan so that many people would be connected to the project, which may affect their whole financial conditions. In addition, only qualified corporation should develop and operate shopping complex and the government must support and aid the developers in order to make a better shopping environment in which customers might be happy during their shopping experience.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.7
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• pp.95-124
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• 2004

It can be said that 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks' in 2001 were not only the indiscriminate attacks on innocent people but also the whole - political, economical and military - attacks on human life. Also, 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks' can be regarded as the significant events in the history of world, which were on the peak of the super-terrorism or new-terrorism that had emerged from the 1980s. However, if one would have analysed the developments of terrorism from the 1970s, they could have been foreknown without difficulty. The finding from this study can be summarized as the followings, First, in spite that the USA responsive system against terrorism had been assessed as perfect before 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks', the fragilities were found in the aspects of the response on the new-terrorism or super-terrorism. The previous responsive system before 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks' had the following defects as the followings: (1) it was impossible to establish the integrated strategy, because the organizations related to the response against terrorism had not integrated; (2) there were some weakness to collect and diffuse the informations related to terrorism; (3) the security system for the domestic airline service in USA and the responsive system of air defense against terrors on aircraft were very fragile. For these reasons, USA government established the 'Department of Homeland Security' of which the President is the head so that the many organizations related to terrorism were integrated into a single management system. And, it legislated a new act to protect security from terrors, which legalized of the wiretapping in spite of the risk of encroachment upon personal rights, increased the jail terms upon terrorists, froze the bank related to terrorist organization, and could censor e-mails. Second, it seem that Korean responsive system against terrors more fragile than that of USA. One of the reasons is that people have some perception that Korea is a safe zone from terrors, because there were little attacks from international terrorists in Korea. This can be found from the fact that the legal arrangement against terrorism is only the President's instruction No. 47. Under this responsive system against terrorism dependent on only the President's instruction, it is expected that there would be a poor response against terrors due to the lack of unified and integrated responsive agency as like the case of USA before 'the September 11th Terrorist Attacks'. And, where there is no legal countermeasure, it is impossible to expect the binding force on the outside of administrative agencies and the performances to prevent and hinder the terrorist actions can not but be limited. That is to say, the current responsive system can not counteract effectively against the new-terrorism and super-terrorism. Third, although there were some changes in Korean government's policies against terrorism. there still are problems. One of the most important problems is that the new responsive system against terrorism in Korea, different from that of USA, is not a permanent agency but a meeting body that is organized by a commission. This commission is controled by the Prime Minister and the substantial tasks are under the National Intelligence Service. Under this configuration, there can be the lack of strong leadership and control. Additionally, because there is no statute to response against terrorism, it is impossible to prevent and counteract effectively against terrorism. The above summarized suggests that, because the contemporary super-terrorism or new-terrorism makes numerous casualties of unspecified persons and enormous nationwide damages, the thorough prevention against terrorism is the most important challenge, and that the full range of legal and institutional arrangements for the ex post counteraction should be established. In order to do so, it is necessary for the government to make legal and institutional arrangements such as the permanent agency for protection from terrorism in which the related departments cooperates with together and the development of efficient anti-terror programs, and to show its willingness and ability that it can counteract upon any type of domestic and foreign terrorism so that obtain the active supports and confidence from citizens.

• Journal of Science of Art and Design
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• v.12
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• pp.65-96
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• 2007

Today, the modern art is extremely diverse. It is denying its own boundary through chaos, extreme, abjection. In fact the diversity of the modern art can be best described as questioning and challenging to the essence of the reality, rather than the artistic pursuit of the beauties. The pursuit of the reality has been a long lasting discourse since the ancient. Through the history, the reality (referent) and representation (image) has been complementing and disposing each other in a relationship of a meaningful construction until the modern times. The limit of modernistic self-reference and the emergence of the figure leads to the emergence of Post-modernism in a trend of experimenting new visual arts. The return to the figure is clearly distinguished from existing representation's system and it brought new meanings to approaches and interpretations of the reality. In the case of Pop arts of 1960's and the following the modern sculptures, which is covered by this thesis, I put an emphasis on the diversification of those via changed strategies on the reality. In a situation where the reality is dictated by signified, the modern arts can no longer stay on a classic concept of representation, rather it pursuits new system and diverse strategies. I provide three types of strategic characters of the reality and the diversification of reality: the transition of the reality. These three types can be used as a frame work, which is supporting new aspects of the modern arts in reflecting on existing system. Therefore, the reason of categorizing is to distinguish modernistic arts and post modernistic arts, and to propose new post-modernistic discourses. Adapting J.F, Lyotard's view, absence is used to trace down the diversification of the reality thorough the sublime on the deconstruction of the mega discourses and the relationship of representation. Based on H. Faster's theory of the appropriation, the appropriation is used to exemplify the strategies of visual arts are in variations and being delayed. Lastly, in the transition, J. Baudrilliard's simulacre is used in terms of the concept of post modernistic representation. Based on the core of his theories, the deconstruction of existing concepts and simulation as the post modernistic representation, and the world of hyperreality based on simulacre are explained. These allows us to deny that representation is the expression of reality through mimesis. My aim is to work on the definition of the arts and representation in the modern era, and go further from there in order to clarify meaning and extension of the modern sculptures. Now two artists are reviewed based on their own art works: George Seagal; Jeff Koons. They are selected among numerous artists from the Post Modern era. Epic contents and emphasis on daily life of Seagal's works show good examples to artists from Pop Arts and following time period and may have served as a start point for Postmodernism. Indeed, he tried to show a newly defined relationship between art works and daily life experience. On the other hand, J.Koons used the strategies of fabrication and appropriation, which shows characteristics of the postmodernism. Through his four individual exhibitions, he shows the diversification of the reality based on art works as fetishistic merchandises, and newly defined concept of Ready-made since M Duchamp. Lastly, the diversification of the reality is analyzed again in context of my art works. I focused on the return to the figure among a variety of trends of late 20 th century modern sculpture. It showed the post modernistic point of view on the reality. Post modernistic diversified strategies are adopted as a method of distinguishing each art works via the diversification of the reality. This is the result of contemporary social and cultural situations.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.409-427
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• 1999

The aim of this study was to illustrate how STS-related ideas in science education have been developed historically in the context of British education, particularly focused on the period of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. It has been hardly considered that the basic ideas of the STS education, one of the two paradigms of current science education together with constructivism, can be traced back to the beginning of the school science education itself. far beyond some of the programs which are largely regarded as the first-developed STS programs in Britain, such as Science in Society and SISCON. The movement of Mechanics' Institute during the first half of the 19th century would be the first systematic attempt to bridge the gap between the knowledge of pure science and its practical applications, although the main target was working-class adults rather than school pupils. At the end of the first half of the 19th century, this application-focused approach of science teaching was echoed in the elementary schools by Richard Dawes, one of the early experimenters of school science. The second half of the century was in large the period of the establishment of science as one of the core elements of school curriculum, mainly by emphasizing the aspect of pure science as a means for mental training. During this period, the elements of STS education-related appeared in the subject called 'Object Lesson' in elementary schools which was practically a separate subject from those of science. After the turn of the century, triggered by the experience of World War I, the growing appreciation of the impacts of science upon society and of the necessity of the teaching of science for wider audience gave a great impact towards two new main movements, i.e. for General Science and Citizen Science. The later illustrates a typical example of the STS movement in school science during the first half of the 20th century, particularly driven by the socialistic ideas towards the relation between science and society.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7825-7829
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• 2015

Background: Egypt has the highest prevalence of HCV infection in the world (~14.7%). Around 10-15% of HCV-infected persons will advance to cirrhosis within the first 20 years. The incidence of HCC is expected to grow in the next two decades, largely due to HCV related cirrhosis, and detection of HCC at an early stage is critical for a favorable clinical outcome. No simple reliable non-invasive marker has been available till now. B2M, a non-glycosylated polypeptide composed of 99 amino acids, is one of the components of HLA class I molecules on the surfaces of all nucleated cells. It has been reported that the level of serum B2M is elevated in patients with chronic hepatitis C and HCV-related HCC when compared to HCV-negative patients or healthy donors. Determining the clinical utility of serum B2M as a marker for disease progression in Egyptian patients with HCV related chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma was the aim of the present study. Materials and Methods: In this analytical cross sectional study 92 participants were included in 4 equal groups: Group (1) non cirrhotic chronic HCV; Group (2) HCV related liver cirrhosis; Group (3) HCC on top of HCV,; and Group (4) healthy controls. History taking, clinical examination, routine labs and abdominal ultrasound were conducted for all patients, PCR and Metavir scores for group (1) patients, and triphasic CT abdomen and AFP for Group (3) patients. B2M levels were measured in serum with a fully-automated IMX system. Results: The mean serum B2M level of Group (1) was $4.25{\pm}1.48{\mu}g/ml$., Group (2) was $7.48{\pm}3.04$, Group (3) was $6.62{\pm}2.49$ and Group (4) was $1.62{\pm}0.63$. Serum B2M levels were significantly higher in diseased than control group (p<0.01) being significantly higher in cirrhosis ($7.48{\pm}3.04$) and HCC groups ($6.62{\pm}2.49$) than the HCV group ($4.25{\pm}1.48$) (p<0.01). There was a significant correlation between B2M Level and ALK, total and direct bilirubin and INR (p<0.05), and a significant inverse correlation between B2M level and albumin, total proteins, HB andWBCS values (p<0.05). There was no significant correlation between B2M level and viral load or Metavir score, largest tumour size or AFP (p>0.05). The best B2M cut-off for HCV diagnosis was 2.6 with a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 92%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 97% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100%. The best B2M cut-off for HCC diagnosis was 4.55 which yielded sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive values of 74%, 62%, 39.5, 87.8% respectively (p-value <0.01) while best cut-off for cirrhosis was 4.9, with sensitivity 74 % and specificity 74%.The sensitivity for HCC diagnosis increased upon B2M and AFP combined estimation to 91%, specificity to 79%, NPV to 95% and accuracy to 83%. Conclusions: Serum B2M level is elevated in HCV related chronic liver diseases and may be used as a marker for HCV disease progression towards cirrhosis and carcinoma.