• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2011

Objectives: Though sulfur dioxide (SO2) is used widely at workplaces, itseffects on humans are not known. Thresholds are reportedwithout reference to gender or age and occupational exposure limits are basedon effects on lung functioning, although localized effects in the upper airways can be expected. This study's aim is to determine thresholds with respect to age and gender and suggests a new approach to risk assessment using breathing reflexes presumably triggered by trigeminal receptors in the upper airways. Methods: Odor thresholds were determined by the ascending method of limits in groups stratified by age and gender. Subjects rated intensities of different olfactory and trigeminal perceptions at different concentrations of $SO_2$. During the presentation of the concentrations, breathing movements were measured by respiratory inductive plethysmography. Results: Neither age nor gender effects were observed for odor threshold. Only ratings of nasal irritation were influenced bygender. A benchmark dose analysis on relative respiratory depth revealed a 10%-deviation from baseline at about 25.27 mg/$m^3$. Conclusion: The proposed new approach to risk assessment appearsto be sustainable. We discuss whether a 10%-deviation of breathingdepth is relevant.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.99-106
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• 2002

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) characterized the cancer hazard of di(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) as a B2 group (probable human carcinogen) and proposed "Guide-lines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment". This guidelines proposed alternative methods for analyzing carcinogen dose-response data and for extrapolating the effects of observed at high dose to predict that might occur at lower doses relevant to human exposure. This proposed guidelines state that "If in a particular case, the evidence indicated a threshold, as in the case of carcinogenicity being secondary to another toxicity that has a threshold, the margin of exposure analysis for toxicity is the same as is done for a non-cancer endpoint". DEHP is excellent candidate for reconideration under the new guidelines for carcinogen risk assessment (John Doull et al., 1998). This study is conducted about risk assessment for infant exposure on DEHP in powdered milk wing methodology in EPA's new guideline on carcinogenic risk assessment. Estimated cancer risk of DEHP in powdered milk and cow milk is 2.83$\times$$10^5$ (using cancer potency: 1.4$\times$$10^2$/ (mg/kg/day)) as mean and MOE is 12075 (using selected NOEL 20 mg/kg/day) as mean. mg/kg/day) as mean.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.151-158
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• 2015

Usually risk assessment is performed for the safety of diverse industries though, many kinds of risks cannot be analyzed effectively by using classical probability models due to lack of experience data and impreciseness of human decision making. For these reasons, fuzzy risk assessment utilizing subjective judgment and experience of skillful experts has been considered as a solution. In this study, to comprehend the relationship between conventional fuzzy theory and human conceptual images on risks, linguistic variables were reviewed with reference to fuzzy membership functions, especially in the Korean language. As interviewees, about a hundred people including students as well as safety engineers voluntarily participated. The research results showed that most people were in favor of adjective expressions decorated with adverbs rather than naive expressions such as "high" or "low", and that directly translated linguistic variables were not appropriate for the Korean people in risk assessment as far. Therefore, with consideration of the selection tendency by the Korean people in linguistic variables, it could be concluded that 5 level expressions would be most favorable for linguistic variables in risk assessments in Korea.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.309-323
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• 2015

This study was initiated to propose the method for human risk assessment suitable to metal mine area. Using a variety of exposure parameters extracted from the investigation of abandoned metal mines, the proposed method was applied to assess the risk of As and heavy metal contamination for inhabitants (male and female adults and child) within an abandoned mine area. Based on the results of risk assessment, in addition, target remediation concentrations of each media (soil, groundwater, and surface water) were estimated. The results indicate that total carcinogenic risk (TCR) and hazard index (HI) representing carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks, respectively, were calculated to exceed the tolerable levels (1.00E-6 and 1) with regard to two exposure pathways (groundwater and crop intakes) and As. Thus, the human risk of study area was evaluated to be significant. Based on the target risk (TR) for carcinogens, the remediation concentrations of soil were computed to be 6.83~6.85 mg/kg and 18.41~18.46 mg/kg for As and Pb, respectively. In terms of target hazard index (THI) for non-carcinogens, the remediation concentrations of soil were calculated to be 17.38 mg/kg for Cu and 9.13 mg/kg for As.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2005

The objective of this study was to ascertain whether or not the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) test, when coupled with Papanicolaou (Pap) smears, would prove useful in the screening and management of patients in whom abnormal Pap smear results had been obtained. Concomitant high-risk HPV detection using the hybrid capture II test and colposcopy with a Pap smear were performed with 176 patients, all of whom had been screened for both cervical carcinoma and precancerous lesions. We concomitantly performed colposcopies on these patients. Upon the follow-ups, the histologic diagnoses of these patients were confirmed via either biopsy or hysterectomy. The rate of high-risk HPV detection was correlated with cytologic diagnoses and colposcopic findings. The group composed of the high-risk HPV-positive ASCUS patients exhibited a 55.7% rate of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), a significantly higher rate than the 7.5% result obtained in the high-risk HPV-negative ASCUS group. HPV test showed high sensitivity (87%) and low specificity (62.6%) in detection of CIN and colposcopy also showed high sensitivity (88%) and low specificity (22%). Any combination of these tests improve sensitivity, but not specificity. High-risk HPV tests, when coupled with Pap smears, constituted a useful triage approach with regard to colposcopy-directed biopsies in patients in whom a cytologic diagnosis of ASCUS had been rendered.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2013

Background: The age-adjusted incidence rate of prostate cancer (PCa) has been reported to be lower among Asians than Western populations. A traditional Japanese meal, high in soybean products or isoflavones, may be associated with a decreased risk of PCa. Equol, which is converted from daidzein by human intestinal flora, is biologically more active than any other isoflavone aglycone. Materials and Methods: We reviewed not only recent epidemiological studies on association of isoflavones with PCa risk, but also recent research on human intestinal bacteria responsible for converting daidzein into equol. Studies were systematically searched from the database published within the last 5 years of from 2008-2012. Results: Five out of 6 articles showed significant association of isoflavones with a decreased risk of PCa, and two of them consistently showed that equol-producers carry a significantly reduced risk of PCa. Furthermore, 5 human intestinal bacteria that can convert daidzein into equol were identified in the last 5 years. Conclusions: If equol can reduce risk of PCa, a possible strategy for reducing the risk of PCa may be to increase the proportion of equol-producers by changing the intestinal flora to carrying an equol-producing bacterium with dietary alteration or probiotic technology.

• Fashion, Industry and Education
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.35-46
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to examine female consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions toward intimate apparel brands. To understand female consumers' shopping behaviors for intimate apparel products, this study examined interrelationships among brand familiarity, perceived risk, attitudes, and purchase intentions toward intimate apparel brands. A conceptual model was developed by adopting perceived risk theory (Cox, 1967) and theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). A pre-survey using a paper and pencil was conducted to identify the most familiar intimate apparel brand to young female consumers. The majority of pre-survey respondents (66 female college students) indicated Victoria's Secret as the most prominent intimate apparel brand. Therefore, Victoria's Secret was used to examine possible effects of brand familiarity on perceived risk and attitudinal and behavioral responses toward the brand. Using a web-based survey, 384 complete responses were collected from young female college students between the ages of 18-29 at a Mid-southern U.S. university. A structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed research model and hypotheses. Results showed positive, statistically significant associations among the four variables (e.g., brand familiarity, perceived risk, attitudes, and purchase intentions). The findings suggested that young female consumers who are familiar with a particular intimate apparel brand are likely to perceive a low level of risk, leading to positive, strong attitudes with purchase intentions toward that particular intimate apparel brand. This suggests establishing brand familiarity through integrated marketing communication is crucial for risk reduction strategy in intimate apparel shopping.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.101-106
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• 2009

The unsafe act and unsafe condition is due to human error that experience 80% of safety accidents. Accordingly, one of the most important issues to reduce industrial accidents as a whole, is how to reduce the accident rate by the human error. Therefore, this paper describes the development of quantitative risk assessment (QRA) model by ergonomics for reform of safety consciousness on the semiconductor industry. Unconsciousness, disregard, ignorance, recklessness, and stress among the human factors are selected for conscious reform. Finally, the QRA model is efficiently expected to contribute towards improving continuous self-safety and health and safety culture campaign in order to prevent industrial accidents.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2023

The human reproductive system can be affected by occupational exposure to many physical and chemical risk factors. This study was carried out to review the studies conducted on the issue of the pathophysiological effects of occupational physical and chemical risk factors on the reproductive system of females and males. In this systematic review, the databases such as "Google Scholar," "Pub-Med," "Scopus," and "Web of Science" were used. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020), the studies included in our study were published between 2000 and 2021. In order to extract the required data, all sections of the articles were reviewed. Out of 57 articles we reviewed, 34 articles were related to field studies and 23 articles to clinical studies. Among them, 43 studies dealt with the pathophysiological effects of chemical agents, six studies dealt with the pathophysiological effects of physical factors, and 8 studies dealt with the pathophysiological effects of physicochemical factors on the human reproductive system. Physical (noise, heat, and radiofrequency radiation) and chemical (such as carbamate and organophosphate pesticides, benzene, toluene, xylene, formaldehyde, NO2, CS2, manganese, lead, nickel, and n-hexane) risk factors had pathophysiological effects on the human reproductive system. The presence of these risk factors in the workplace caused damage to the human reproductive system. The rate of these negative pathophysiological effects can be reduced by performing appropriate managerial, technical, and engineering measures in work environments.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.267-275
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• 2023

Cardiotoxicity, particularly drug-induced Torsades de Pointes (TdP), is a concern in drug safety assessment. The recent establishment of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (human iPSC-CMs) has become an attractive human-based platform for predicting cardiotoxicity. Moreover, electrophysiological assessment of multiple cardiac ion channel blocks is emerging as an important parameter to recapitulate proarrhythmic cardiotoxicity. Therefore, we aimed to establish a novel in vitro multiple cardiac ion channel screening-based method using human iPSC-CMs to predict the drug-induced arrhythmogenic risk. To explain the cellular mechanisms underlying the cardiotoxicity of three representative TdP high- (sotalol), intermediate- (chlorpromazine), and low-risk (mexiletine) drugs, and their effects on the cardiac action potential (AP) waveform and voltage-gated ion channels were explored using human iPSC-CMs. In a proof-of-principle experiment, we investigated the effects of cardioactive channel inhibitors on the electrophysiological profile of human iPSC-CMs before evaluating the cardiotoxicity of these drugs. In human iPSC-CMs, sotalol prolonged the AP duration and reduced the total amplitude (TA) via selective inhibition of I_Kr and I_Na currents, which are associated with an increased risk of ventricular tachycardia TdP. In contrast, chlorpromazine did not affect the TA; however, it slightly increased AP duration via balanced inhibition of I_Kr and I_Ca currents. Moreover, mexiletine did not affect the TA, yet slightly reduced the AP duration via dominant inhibition of I_Ca currents, which are associated with a decreased risk of ventricular tachycardia TdP. Based on these results, we suggest that human iPSC-CMs can be extended to other preclinical protocols and can supplement drug safety assessments.