• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.80-87
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• 1998

To evaluate the effects on health by exposure to low dose organic solvents, the author analyzed the air concentration of mixed organic solvents (toluene, xylene, butylacetate) at worker's breathing zone during painting, some laboratory findings of blood (WBC, RBC, Hb, Hct, SGOT, SGPT, TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, IgG, IgM, IgA and IgE) and urine (hippuric acid, urinary protein, urobilinogen), surveyed the subjective symptoms those were obtained from 35 male workers exposed to mixed organic solvents, and 25 male workers not exposed to organic solvents who worked in car repair workshops in Taejon area from December 1, 1995, to February 29, 1996. The results were as follows: 1. The mean concentration of urinary hippuric acid of car painting worker group (organic solvent exposure group) was 0.76$\pm$ 0.21 g/l, which is significantly higher than that of non-exposed group. 2. In hematologic findings, the values of RBC, TC, LDL-C, IgG and IgE in the exposure group were significantly lower than those of the nonexposed group, but SGOT and SGPT in the exposure group were significantly higher than those of the non-exposed group. 3. Urinary hippuric acid levels showed positively correlated with toluene, urobilinogen and HDL-C levels, but those were negatively correlated with RBC, LDL-C, IgM levels. 4. Rates of the subjective symptoms such as "dizziness", "appetite loss", "weight loss", "palpitation", "chest tightness", "sore throat and eye discomfort", "tingling sense and acrodynia", "illusion or hallucination" and "decreaased motor power" were significantly higher in the exposure group than those of the non-exposed group.

• ETRI Journal
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.202-212
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• 2017

With the advent of the Internet-of-Things paradigm, the amount of data production has grown exponentially and the user demand for responsive consumption of data has increased significantly. Herein, we present DART, a fast and lightweight stream processing framework for the IoT environment. Because the DART framework targets a geospatially distributed environment of heterogeneous devices, the framework provides (1) an end-user tool for device registration and application authoring, (2) automatic worker node monitoring and task allocations, and (3) runtime management of user applications with fault tolerance. To maximize performance, the DART framework adopts an actor model in which applications are segmented into microtasks and assigned to an actor following a single responsibility. To prove the feasibility of the proposed framework, we implemented the DART system. We also conducted experiments to show that the system can significantly reduce computing burdens and alleviate network load by utilizing the idle resources of intermediate edge devices.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• 제36권6호
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• pp.441-455
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• 2010

Researchers who work in science and engineering R&D laboratories are commonly exposed to a wide range of chemical, biological and physical hazards. They also may adopt ergonomically poor postures for long periods of time. These factors may increase the risk of adverse health outcomes in laboratory workers. Recently, there were several fatal accidents in the laboratories in universities and research institutes in Korea. Consequently, the 'Laboratory Safety Act' was enacted in 2006. However, there are concerns about the health risk associated with chronic exposures to hazards, as the management measures provided in this Act are very limited, focusing primarily on accident prevention and compensation for lab work-related accidents. In this article, the methods for assessing exposure to chemicals in laboratory environments are discussed. Also, epidemiological studies examining the association between laboratory exposure and health effects, including cancer and reproductive toxicity are extensively reviewed. Finally, the possible roles of environmental health professionals in this area are suggested, along with a list of critical research needs for properly assessing laboratory workers' exposure and risk.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.241-249
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• 2020

Background: Prolonged standing during work causes a lower extremity pain and disorders. Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is one of the common diagnoses of the knee pain. Although the etiology of PFPS is not completely understood, it is considered to be multifactorial. Objects: The purpose of this study was to investigate difference in strength of knee muscles, quadriceps:hamstring muscles strength ratio (Q:H ratio), asymmetry ratio of knee muscles strength and dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) between standing workers with and without PFPS. Methods: Twenty-eight standing workers with PFPS and 26 age-, height-, and weight-matched standing workers without PFPS participated in this study. A tension sensor measured knee muscle strength, and motion sensor measured dorsiflexion ROM. The asymmetry ratio of knee muscles was calculated by a specific formula using the knee muscles strength of the dominant side and the sound side. An independent t-test was used to identify significant differences in the strength, ROM, Q:H ratio, and asymmetry ratio between the PFPS and normal groups. Results: The standing worker with PFPS have significantly lower dorsiflexion ROM (p < 0.000) and higher asymmetry ratio of the hamstring muscles strength (p < 0.000) compare to the standing worker without PFPS. No significant differences were seen in the strength of quadriceps muscle and hamstring muscles, Q:H ratio, and asymmetry ratio of quadriceps muscle strength. Conclusion: There was a significant difference in the asymmetry ratio of the isometric hamstring muscle strength. This finding suggests that the asymmetry ratio of isometric hamstring muscle strength may be more important than measuring only the hamstring muscle strength of the PFPS side. Furthermore, the results of this study showed a significant difference in dorsiflexion ROM between the standing industrial workers with and without PFPS. Dorsiflexion ROM and isometric hamstring muscle strength should be considered when evaluating the subjects with PFPS.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.26-30
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• 2008

We determined the concentration of glucose, cholesterol, AST and ALT in sera of man workers (n=3,247) had health check-up at hospitls in Jeonbuk area. The mean of concentration of glucose, cholesterol and AST of all workers were increased by 0.1%, 14.9% and 33.0% over than the mean of reference, but the mean of ALT was decreased by 0.8% from it. The rate of workers showed abnormal value of glucose, cholesterol, AST and ALT were 9.7%, 25.4%, 23.7% and 5.5%, respectively. The mean of glucose, cholesterol and AST in each age group were increased over than reference, but the mean of ALT was decreased except in fifties. The rate of the workers in each age group showed an abnormal concentration of glucose, cholesterol, AST and ALT were in 5.6~6.7%, 14.9~31.1%, 20.4~29.2% and 5.2~6.0%, respectively. These data suggest that many workers in Jeonbuk area are opened in possibility of getting diabetes, liver disease and heart disease.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.55-60
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• 2013

This study was to know the effects of massage on the back region in order to reduce stress in middle age women. To investigate the effects of massage to the stress levels of middle aged women, we evaluated blood pressure (BP), heart rate variability (HRV), and ultrasonography before and after back massage. The blood pressure after massage was reduced when compared to that of pre-massage. The HRV spectrum analysis was used Frequency domain analysis such as Mean HRV, normalized low frequency (norm LF), norm high frequency (norm HF), and LF/HF ratio. Post-massage BP tended to be low, but not statistical significant. After Massage, the Mean HRV, norm LF, and LF/HF ratio were significantly reduced, while norm HF was significantly increased as compared with pre-massage. The muscle layer and fat layer were significantly diminished by massage. The study was suggested that massage may be an effective treatment for relief of stress.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.473-478
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• 2018

Background: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is an acquired disease which etiology remains unknown. It is characterized by the development of sensitivity to certain chemical products. Most of the hypotheses formulated to explain the syndrome associate it to a previous exposition to some kind of volatile chemical. University researchers in chemical laboratories suffer a phenomenon of multi-exposition to chemical agents at low concentration during long periods of time although in an irregular form. Many of these chemical agents have similar properties to those suspicious of causing MCS. This article studies the prevalence of MCS in laboratory researchers. Methods: The study group is university researchers in chemical laboratories. The control group was obtained from administrative personnel who work in the same universities and therefore, are not exposed to chemical products from the laboratories, but have the same exposition to the rest of environmental polluting agents from the area and from the buildings of the university. In this study, it is used the Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory (QEESI) (sensitivity of 92%/specificity of 95%). Results: The results showed that the prevalence of MCS for the university researchers is not related to exposition by inhalation to multiple chemical agents, at low concentration. Conclusions: The results disagree with one of the main etiological hypotheses of MCS, which is based on the existence of hypersensitive people, who presents a response after prolonged expositions to very low concentrations during a long period of time.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.21-27
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• 2012

The loss of life and property due to accidents in the research facilities or the laboratories of the university occurs steadily and the necessity of laboratory accident prevention is proposed. Above all, the main work to laboratory accident prevention is a systematic analysis of laboratories accidents. Analyzing reports or researches on industrial accidents in Korea had been carried out but these researches or reports did not based on laboratory accidents analysis. To the establishment of the accident prevention countermeasure in laboratory, a questionnaire sheet has been developed in this study. The questionnaires to survey the accident cases were gathered by electronic mail and visit survey from the laboratories and universities. The data of accident cases from the questionnaires was analyzed and discussed on accident distribution by season, the type of accident classification, the type of occurrence, the objects that caused the accident and laboratory accident by the damage incurred etc.. These results of this study can be used as basic data to the safety security and laboratory accident prevention of the laboratory worker.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Disaster Information Conference
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• 한국재난정보학회 2017년 정기학술대회
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• pp.291-292
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• 2017

본 논문에서는 연구실험실에서 이루어지는 연구 활동에 따라 다양한 유해요인이 존재하게 된다. 생물 관련 실험실에서 근무하는 연구 활동 종사자들은 바이러스, 박테리아와 같은 유해요인, 화학 관련 실험실에서 근무하는 연구 활동 종사자들은 다양한 화학물질에 노출되고 있고 이렇게 노출되는 유해요인에 따라 연구 활동 종사자들이 경험하는 건강요인도 다르다. 외국에서는 연구 활동 종사자들 대상으로 실험실 근무와 건강영향간의 상관관계를 조사한 연구가 있는 편이지만 우리나라에서는 이에 대한 연구가 많이 부족한 실정이다. 따라서 이 연구의 목적은 우리나라 일부 대학의 생물 및 화학실험실의 연구 활동 종사자를 대상으로 건강상의 영향을 조사하고 연구 활동 종사자의 건강에 영향을 끼치는 환경적 요인을 파악하는데 있다.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.389-392
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• 2019

When conducting an exposure assessment, the primary goal of the industrial hygienist is to fully characterize the worker's exposure during a work shift to compare it with an occupational exposure limit. This applies regardless of the duration of the work activity as an activity that is relatively short in duration can still present exposure in excess of the occupational exposure limit even when normalized over an 8-hr shift. This goal, however, is often impeded by the specification of a minimum sample volume in the published sampling method, which may prevent the sample from being collected or submitted for analysis. Removing the specification of minimum sample volume (or adjusting it from a requirement to a recommendation), in contrast, allows for a broader assessment of jobs that consist of short-duration and high-exposure activities and also eliminates the unnecessary practice of running sampling pumps in clean air to collect a specified, minimum volume.