• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 2024

Objectives: The unsafe use of pesticides in agriculture represents a major hazard to human health. This study was conducted to investigate the association between pesticide exposure and health symptoms among chili farmers in northeast Thailand. Methods: This cross-sectional analytic study included 141 chili farmers in Sakon Nakhon Province, in northeast Thailand. Data regarding health symptoms were gathered using a self-report questionnaire. A medical technician tested blood cholinesterase activity using an erythrocyte method, and an occupational medicine specialist at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand reviewed the results. Associations between personal characteristics, pesticide exposure factors, and health symptoms were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Results: Of the 141 chili farmers studied, 66.7% experienced pesticide poisoning, as indicated by below-normal cholinesterase levels. Fatigue was the most frequently reported symptom associated with pesticide exposure, affecting 37.6% of participants. This was followed by nausea and vomiting (31.9%), dizziness (14.9%), and dry throat (14.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that several factors were significantly associated with adverse symptoms: amount of work experience, volume of pesticides used, use of chemical pesticides, use of leaking containers during spraying, direct pesticide exposure while working, contact with pesticide-soaked clothing, consumption of food and drinks in the fields, and blood cholinesterase level indicating risk. Conclusions: This study suggests potential health risks for chili farmers stemming from exposure to and contamination by pesticides used in agricultural practices. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to supply personal protective equipment and to implement educational programs aimed at improving protective behaviors among farmers.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.628-634
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• 2008

In recent years, cross-contamination has become one of the noticeable issues in dental clinic. Two major routes of contamination are the direct-contamination through blood and oral secretion and the indirect-contamination through dental office equipments. Especially, air-contamination through air-floating pollutant in a confined space like hospital, and also contamination through aerosol ejected from high-speed handpiece in a dental office was interested. The purpose of this study was to understand risk of bacterial infection through aerosol from handpiece in a dental office, which will help the practitioner with prevention of contamination during dental treatment. The main findings are as follows. 1. In a comparative test, the group using handpiece has higher bacterial number than the group not using handpiece with significant statistical difference(P<0.01). 2. The group using handpiece with rubber dam has lower bacterial number than the group using handpiecewithout rubber dam with significant statistical difference(P<0.01). 3. Comparing the group using drainage water with the group using distilled water as a handpiece water source results in 22.4 cfu and 17.0 cfu respectively but the difference is no statistically significant(P>0.05). 4. Measuring cfu at 0.5m and 1.5m distance, 0.5m distance showed higher bacterial number with statistical significance(P<0.01). 5. Classification of bacterial types showed the largest bacterial number came from gram-positive micrococcus(73.9%), and gram-negative micrococcus, gram-negative bacillus, and gram-positive bacillus follow in descending order.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Dyers and Finishers Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.181-183
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• 2008

Four different subtilisins of protease were investigated to see their effects on the cleaning activity. The cleaning solution was formulated with various non-ionic surfactants and other additives such as propylene glycol, triethanolamine, pH balancer etc. to evaluate their effect on enzyme activity as well. Evaluation of formulated cleaning solution was carried under K0120 using pre-soiled textiles from EMPA. The results showed that the cleaning activity on soil removal was not severly influenced by surfactant but the enzyme mostly. In addition, the activity of enzymes was not much affected by the type of surfactants as long as the surfactants were non-ionic. Liquinase among the four enzymes used in this study showed the best performance on soil removal, especially blood stain.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.48 no.11
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• pp.813-818
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• 2010

Since MTA has many beneficial properties such as biocompatibility, great sealing capacity, antibacterial effects, low cytotoxicity, and stimulation of formation of mineralized tissue, it has been widely used as the material of choice in root-end filling, apexification, pulpotomy, perforation repair and so on. However, despite its favorable characteristics, MTA presents working properties which are less than ideal. The resulting cement from the mixing of powder and water is difficult to manipulate, and its setting time has been reported to be 2 h 45 min whereas the working time is <4 minutes. Additional moisture is also required to activate the setting of the cement. Moreover, according to recent studies, the physical properties of MT A may be hampered by acidic environment or blood contamination. Therefore, practitioners may have surprisingly worse results than they expected when they are not fully acquainted with the characteristics and manipulation method of MTA.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.361-364
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• 1997

The paper is to report a case of zinc-deficient parakeratotic hyperkeratosis in a dog. In this dermatosis, although an available diagnosis of zinc-deficient dermatosis is to analyse the serum or hair zinc Bevels, exact analysis of zinc is difficult and unreliable due to contamination of zinc by various environmental, physiologic and disease-related factors. Diagnosis may be performed by history, physical examination and blood chemical analysis. Laboratory evaluation revealed hypercholesterolemia and low activities of serum alkaline photophatase and total protein. The dog showed thick crusts at the elbows joint, stifle joint and testis. Zinc sulfate is administered per oral to patient with application of salicylic acid added vaseline ointment on hyperkaratic lesions. The dog is successfully cured.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.43-48
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• 2014

Chorionic villus sampling has gained importance as a tool for early cytogenetic diagnosis with a shift toward first trimester screening. First trimester screening using nuchal translucency and biomarkers is effective for screening. Chorionic villus sampling generally is performed at 10-12 weeks by either the transcervical or transabdominal approach. There are two methods of analysis; the direct method and the culture method. While the direct method may prevent maternal cell contamination, the culture method may be more representative of the true fetal karyotype. There is a concern for mosaicism which occurs in approximately 1% of cases, and mosaic results require genetic counseling and follow-up amniocentesis or fetal blood sampling. In terms of complications, procedure-related pregnancy loss rates may be the same as those for amniocentesis when undertaken in experienced centers. When the procedure is performed after 9 weeks gestation, the risk of limb reduction is not greater than the risk in the general population. At present, chorionic villus sampling is the gold standard method for early fetal karyotyping; however, we anticipate that improvements in noninvasive prenatal testing methods, such as cell free fetal DNA testing, will reduce the need for invasive procedures in the near future.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1033-1037
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• 1995

PVC-based calcium-selective electrodes doped with ETH 129 usually suffer from a shift in the standard potential when they are in contact with protein-containing solutions (e.g. blood serum) after being calibrated with aqueous standards. The shift is due to the development of asymmetry potential in inherently symmetric PVC membranes through the contamination of outer membrane surface by proteins in the biological samples. Membranes prepared with polyurethane showed much reduced shifts in terms of standard potential. This study was performed with a flow-injection system following a protocol designed to observe minor shifts in baseline potential. Other electrochemical properties of the system, including selectivity and response slope, were similar to those obtained with regular PVC-based ones. PVC-based calcium selective membrane electrodes, doped with commonly used ETH 1001, were also tested to compare their electrochemical performances.

• Electrolytes & blood pressure
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.27-29
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• 2018

Peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related peritonitis is a major cause of injury and technique failure in patients undergoing PD. Aeromonas hydrophila is ubiquitous in the environment, and is a Gram-negative rod associated with infections in fish and amphibians in most cases; however, it can also cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of A. hydrophila peritonitis in a 56-year-old male on automated PD. Peritonitis may have been caused by contamination of the Set Plus, a component of the automated peritoneal dialysis device. Although Set Plus is disposable, the patient reused the product by cleansing with tap water. He was successfully treated with intraperitoneally-administered ceftazidime and has been well without recurrence for more than 2 years.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.319-326
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• 2010

Bacteroiospermia is a frequently finding in fresh raw and extended porcine semen and can results in detrimental effects on semen quality and longevity. This study aims to evaluate the type of bacterial contaminants in raw and extended porcine semen and the reducing effect of antibiotic test. To investigate bacterial contaminants, out of 387 sample (raw semen 201, extended semen 186) were collected from 6 artifical insemination centers in Gyeongsangnam-do, were inoculated onto blood agar and MacKonkey agar, respectively. Bacterial colonies were selected after culturing for 48 hours, at $37^{\circ}C$, followed by Gram staining, KOH test, oxidase test, catalase test and eventually identified using VITEK System. Total 15 genus and 24 species of bacteria were isolated from these semen samlpes. In raw semen, the most prevalent contaminants were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus auricularis, Delftia acidovorans, Acinetobacter lowffii, S. aureus and others. And in extended porcine semen, A. lowffii, S. aureus, S. auricularis and other bacteria were identified. Most of them was G(-), which is nonpathogenic bacteria. It seems that bacterial contaminants in fresh raw and extended porcine semen originated from multiple sources at the farms/stud, and were from animal origin and non-animal origins. Whereas, the 7 virus which is known to be detected in porcine semen in 75 cases was not detected. This results showed that removal of bacterial contamination in raw and extended porcine semen is essential and farms were kept for biosecurity and individual hygienes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.64 no.8
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• pp.83-96
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• 2014

This study aims to analyze the design of current nurse uniforms, investigate the state of nurse uniforms, and uniform design preferences in order to ultimately develop functional nurse uniform, which satisfy their needs. First, observing photos of nurses' campaign on wearing a badge showed that opening of top uniform almost always incorporated buttons, and sleeves were mostly set-in half sleeves while collars tended to be mandarin collars. The colors were mostly white for both top and bottom, while the top showed a bit more variety in colors. White tops often incorporated hospital logos on them. Second, in terms of the nurse uniform distribution, each nurse is given one top and one bottom per year. In addition, either a cardigan or a jacket on top of the regular summer uniform constitutes the winter uniform, whereas the availability of cardigans differed by hospitals. Third, the main source of contamination of uniforms was blood, and the level of satisfaction was all low in terms of the design, function, and material of the uniform, calling for the enhancement and development of new uniforms. Design preferences were two-piece with pants, color preferences were blue and pink, and pattern preferences were hospital logo, stripes, and check patterns in the listed order of preference. Complaints were usually made on the contamination of front pocket of the top, lack of sufficient pockets for storage, and tightness of the sleeves. Some preferences on finishing were the princess seams, mandarin collar, set-in half sleeves, and button closing on top. The preferred belt was a mixed form of straight-lined belt and rubber belt, and straight lined hem and spandex blended fabrics were favored for the clothing.