• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.103-108
• /
• 2019

Background: This study was designed to provide logical backgrounds for the revision of biological exposure indices (BEIs) for styrene exposure in Korea. In order to investigate the correlation between airborne styrene and biological exposure indices, we measured urinary mandelic acid (MA) and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA) in workers exposed to styrene occupationally, as well as airborne styrene at workplaces. Methods: Surveys were conducted for 56 subjects. The concentrations of airborne styrene and urinary metabolites of styrene were measured in 36 workers who were occupationally exposed to styrene, and in 20 controls. Air samples were collected using personal air samplers and analyzed by gas chromatography. Urine samples were collected at the end of the shift and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Results: The geometric mean concentration of airborne styrene was 9.6 ppm. The concentrations of urinary MA, PGA, and MA+PGA in the exposure group were 267.7, 143.3, and 416.8 mg/g creatinine, respectively. The correlation coefficients for correlation between airborne styrene and MA, PGA, and MA+PGA were 0.714, 0.604, and 0.769, respectively. The sum of urinary MA and PGA corresponding to an exposure of 20 ppm styrene was 603 mg/g creatinine. Conclusion: The correlation of the sum of urinary MA and PGA with airborne styrene was better than the correlation of each individual urinary determinant. It is considered appropriate to amend the concentration of urinary MA+PGA to 600 mg/g creatinine as a BEI, which corresponds to an airborne styrene concentration of 20 ppm in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.11-20
• /
• 2020

This study introduced the compact grouting method that can be used for improving soft ground and restoring buildings with unequal subsidence. The pump used in the traditional compact grouting method is a system that injects one hole each, which reduces the construction efficiency, and the analog injection method manually manages the construction by field workers, making it difficult to manage consistent quality. Pump and quality control system were developed to solve problems in existing construction. Since field supervisor determines amount of injected materials by using analog equipment and controls manually, it is difficult to manage consistent quality of construction. Therefore, the quality control system was developed in order to solve that problem. The quality control system consists of automatic mixing system of injection materials, multiple simultaneous injection pumps, and injection management monitoring system. Performance of the quality control system was verified through on-site testing, and ground improvement performance was verified through quality testing after testing and testing of the compact grouting method. Therefore, it is expected that the integrated quality control system developed will improve the quality assurance and efficiency and stability of construction at sites where construction and quality verification are difficult.

• Journal of Apiculture
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.315-323
• /
• 2019

Large amounts of sludge produced by paper mill industries represent one of the most serious environmental problems in the world. Recently, beekeepers living in the neighborhood of the paper mill in Hwasan County, Youngcheon city, GB, Korea, became alarmed that honey bee colonies were dying off suddenly across the neighborhood. A preliminary study was conducted to evaluate the toxicity (oral, fumigation, repellent) of recycled solid paper mill sludge (SPMS) and leachate paper mill sludge (LPMS) to honey bee workers under laboratory conditions, and to analyze the volatile organic compounds(VOC). The SPMS and LPMS were separately subjected to a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) at three temperatures to extract VOC(highest VOC yields: 1.52% SPMS and 0.34% LPMS). A total of 70 chemicals were detected in the VOC of paper mill sludges, of which 49 and 21 volatile organic compounds from SPMS and LPMS, respectively. The SPMS was dominated by high degree presence of stanols (saturated sterols), such as cholestanol, cholestan-3-ol and also saturated hydrocarbons. However, LPMS was characterized by the absence of sterols. Both SPMS and LPMS showed an influence on the olfactory behavior of honey bee on Y-tube assay, with repulsion rates of 72 and 68%, respectively. Both SPMS and LPMS at concentration of 100mg/mL caused higher honey bee oral mortality than the untreated controls at 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after treatment(highest oral mortality at 120 hr: 85.74%(SPMS); 93.51 % (LPMS)). A similar pattern was observed when honey bees were tested to fumigant toxicity. Both SPMS and LPMS caused significant higher mortality than the untreated control 24 hour after the exposure (highest fumigation mortality at 120 hr: 69.4% (SPMS); 56.8% (LPMS)). These preliminary results indicated that paper mill sludge could be partly responsible for sudden death and disappearance of honey bees, especially in hot humid summer days. With climate change, the risk of environmental chemical exposure to honey bee would pose greater attention.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.183-195
• /
• 2022

Hydrothermal gold deposits are evidence of intensive fluid flow through fault zones, and the resultant vein structures and textures reflect the fluid redistribution mechanism. This review introduces the suction pump and fault valve models as fluid circulation mechanisms causing hydrothermal gold deposits in the frameworks of the concepts of fault mechanics. The suction pump and fault valve models describe faulting-driven heterogeneous fluid flow and related vein formation mechanisms, accompanied by the cycles of (1) stress accumulation and fluid pressure build-up and (2) seismic rupture and stress/fluid pressure release. The models are available under different geological environments (stress conditions), and the vein structures and textures representing the mechanisms have similarities and differences. The suction pump and fault valve models must help better to interpret the origins of hydrothermal gold deposits in Korea and improve the efficiency of further exploration.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.535-542
• /
• 2022

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary Ptecticus tenebrifer on the fecal microbiomes of bichon frise. A total of 16 bichon frise dogs (average weight, 2 kg) were randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments (4 dogs/group): general pet food, two types of domestic pet food containing Ptecticus tenebrifer, and one imported pet food containing Ptecticus tenebrifer. In the controls, Firmicutes accounted for the highest proportion (82%) at the phylum level in the fecal microbiomes. The Tax4Fun2's functional prediction program indicated that the control groups showed a relatively high amount of obesity-related microorganisms; the pathways included three types of carbohydrate metabolism. Among the treatments, Firmicutes abundances was the least in the treatments with the two types of domestic pet food containing Ptecticus tenebrifer; this did not affect the functional prediction of Tax4Fun2. In conclusion, the two types of domestic feed with Ptecticus tenebrifer were healthy and suitable for bichon frise; they could be beneficial in terms of obesity.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.45.1-45.7
• /
• 2022

Food security will be affected by climate change worldwide, particularly in the developing world, where the most important food products originate from plants. Plants are often exposed to environmental stresses that may affect their growth, development, yield, and food quality. Auxin is a hormone that plays a critical role in improving plants' tolerance of environmental conditions. Auxin controls the expression of many stress-responsive genes in plants by interacting with specific cis-regulatory elements called auxin-responsive elements (AuxREs). In this work, we performed an in silico prediction of AuxREs in promoters of five auxin-responsive genes in Zea mays. We applied a data fusion approach based on the combined use of Dempster-Shafer evidence theory and fuzzy sets. Auxin has a direct impact on cell membrane proteins. The short-term auxin response may be represented by the regulation of transmembrane gene expression. The detection of an AuxRE in the promoter of prolyl oligopeptidase (POP) in Z. mays and the 3-fold overexpression of this gene under auxin treatment for 30 min indicated the role of POP in maize auxin response. POP is regulated by auxin to perform stress adaptation. In addition, the detection of two AuxRE TGTCTC motifs in the upstream sequence of the bx1 gene suggests that bx1 can be regulated by auxin. Auxin may also be involved in the regulation of dehydration-responsive element-binding and some members of the protein kinase superfamily.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
• /
• 2022.06a
• /
• pp.408-417
• /
• 2022

Although traditionally perceived as being a visualization and asset management resource, the relatively rapid rate of improvement of computing power, coupled with the proliferation of cloud and edge computing and the IoT has seen the expanded functionality of modern Digital Twins (DTs). These technologies, when applied to buildings, are now providing users with the ability to analyse and predict their energy consumption, implement building controls and identify faults quickly and efficiently, while preserving acceptable comfort and well-being levels. Furthermore, when these building DTs are linked together to form a community DT, entirely new and novel energy management techniques, such as demand side management, demand response, flexibility and local energy markets can be unlocked and analysed in detail, creating circularity in the economy and making ordinary building occupants active participants in the energy market. Through the EU Horizon 2020 funded TwinERGY project, three different levels of DT (consumer - building - community) are being created to support the creation of local energy markets while optimising building performance for real-time occupant preferences and requirements for their building and community. The aim of this research work is to demonstrate the development of this new, interrelated, multi-level DT that can be used as a decision-making tool, helping to determine optimal scenarios simultaneously at consumer, building and community level, while enhancing and successfully supporting the community's management plan implementation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
• /
• 2022.10a
• /
• pp.28-30
• /
• 2022

Recently, the number of confirmed cases has increased again with the new variant of COVID-19. Quarantine is recommended, especially to prevent the rapidly increasing spread, as environmental controls, such as minimizing contact with others, can increase safety. In addition, there are often cases in which the patient's condition cannot be confirmed from the standpoint of a guardian, such as visitation being prohibited under certain conditions. At this time, the sensor data values of oxygen, carbon dioxide concentrations, temperature and humidity, and alcohol, which are medical gases used in hospitals, are collected remotely using ZigBee wireless communication technology. Design a system that can be stored and monitored in a database. We propose an environmental monitoring system, which is a visualization system designed to allow hospitals to check and feedback data on the managed environment, and to give reliability to parents.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.50 no.2
• /
• pp.125-137
• /
• 2024

Background: The Korea Risk Information Surveillance System (K-RISS) was developed to enable the early detection of food and drug safety-related issues. Its goal is to deliver real-time risk indicators generated from ongoing food and drug risk monitoring. However, the existing K-RISS system suffers under several limitations. Objectives: This study aims to augment K-RISS with more detailed indicators and establish a severity standard that takes into account structural changes in the daily time series of K-RISS values. Methods: First, a Delphi survey was conducted to derive the required weights. Second, a control chart, commonly used in statistical process controls, was utilized to detect outliers and establish caution, attention, and serious levels for K-RISS values. Furthermore, Bai and Perron's method was employed to determine structural changes in K-RISS time series. Results: The study incorporated 'closeness to life' and 'sustainability' indicators into K-RISS. It obtained the necessary weights through a survey of experts for integrating variables, combining indicators by data source, and aggregating sub K-RISS values. We defined caution, attention, and serious levels for both average and maximum values of daily K-RISS. Furthermore, when structural changes were detected, leading to significant variations in daily K-RISS values according to different periods, the study systematically verified these changes and derived respective severity levels for each period. Conclusions: This study enhances the existing K-RISS system and introduces more advanced indicators. K-RISS is now more comprehensively equipped to serve as a risk warning index. The study has paved the way for an objective determination of whether the food safety risk index surpasses predefined thresholds through the application of severity levels.

• KIEAE Journal
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.137-143
• /
• 2011

An atrium space, unlike ordinary office rooms, accommodates variety of activities such as moving and resting of people and usually houses variety of vegitation to improve amenity and indoor environment. Many atrium buildings in Korea have been designed by considering the environmental criteria for human beings, not for the vegitation in the atrium space. Especially the daylighting designs are mostly focused on the required illuminances for various visual tasks of the occupants and glare controls. As a result, some atrium spaces do not provide sufficient light to the interior plants. Consequently, these atrium spaces require a high level of electric lighting to compensate the deficit of natural light for the photosynthesis of the vegitation. The purpose of this study was to suggest design guidelines for 4-sided atrium spaces having different well indices (WI), plan aspect ratio (PAR), and cardinal orientation. The findings from this study might be referenced by building designers when designing or selecting canopy systems by considering the daylight performances of the uncovered atrium spaces. In the study, the daylight performance was evaluated in terms of daylight autonomy (DA).