• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2020

Objectives: Previous study has shown that the positive rate of latent tuberculosis infection(LTBI) among former workers in dusty environments was higher than that among high-risk groups of tuberculosis(TB). The objective of the present study was to identify the development of active TB among former workers in dusty environments diagnosed with LTBI. Methods: Between January 2015 and May 2017, 796 former workers in dusty environments who had been subjects of epidemiology research for work-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) had received the QuantiFERON-TB® Gold In-Tube(QFT-GIT) from the Institute of Occupation and Environment(IOE) under the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service(KCOMWEL). Among them, 437 participants who received a health examination for work-related pneumoconiosis between January 2015 and December 2018 were selected as study subjects. Active TB was defined as a positive result for active PTB and non-tuberculosis mycobacteria infection in the result of the Pneumoconiosis Examination Council's assessment by KCOMWEL. Results: A total of 437 subjects were followed up for 2.1 years. Four of them(4/437, 0.9%) developed active TB during the follow-up period. The attack rate of active TB among subjects who were diagnosed LTBI positive and those who were diagnosed LTBI negative were 0.9%(3/320) and 0.9%(1/115), respectively. Conclusions: Most previous studies reported that the attack rate of the development of active TB in subjects who had been diagnosed LTBI positive was higher than that among subjects who had been diagnosed LTBI negative. To the contrary, the present study found that the rate of developing active TB among former workers in dusty environments diagnosed as LTBI positive was not higher than that in those who were diagnosed LTBI negative.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17
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• pp.293-297
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• 2001

The international pharmaceutical and regulatory communities had been recognizing the limited utility of conventional rodent carcinogenicity study particularly on the second species, mouse, after intense investigation of carcinogenicity data base worldwide, and a new scheme for carcinogenicity testing for pharmaceuticals was proposed at the Expert Working Group on Safety in the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) in 1996. CB6F 1-Tg rasH2 mouse carrying human prototype c-Ha-ras gene with its own promoter/enhancer is one oj the new carcinogenicity assay model for human cancer risk assessment. Studies have been conducted since 1992 to validate the transgenic (Tg) mice for rapid carcinogenicity test-ing, short term (26 weeks) studies with genotoxic (by Salmonella), non-genotoxic carcinogens, genotoxic non-carcinogens, non-genotoxic non-carcinogens revealed relatively high concordance oj the response of the Tg mouse with classical bioassay across classes of carcinogenic agents. Mechanistic basis for carcinogensis in the model are being elucidated in terms of the role of overexpression and/or point mutation of the transgene. This report review the initial studies of validation of the model and preliminary results of on-going ILSI HESI ACT project will be presented.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.392-399
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• 2020

Background: Surgical treatment of empyema thoracis in patients with chronic kidney disease is challenging, and few studies in the literature have evaluated this issue. In this study, we aim to report the surgical outcomes of empyema and to analyze factors predicting perioperative mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods: This retrospective study included data from 34 patients with chronic kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 ㎡ for 3 or more months) who underwent surgery for empyema between 2012 and 2020. An analysis of demographic characteristics and perioperative variables, including complications, was carried out. Postoperative mortality was the primary outcome measure. Results: Patients' age ranged from 20 to 74 years with a 29-to-5 male-female ratio. The majority (n=19, 55.9%) of patients were in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring maintenance hemodialysis. The mean operative time was 304 minutes and the mean intraoperative blood loss was 562 mL. Postoperative morbidity was observed in 70.5% of patients (n=24). In the subgroup analysis, higher values for operative time, blood loss, intensive care unit stay, and complications were found in ESRD patients. The mortality rate was 38.2% (n=13). In the univariate and multivariate analyses, poor performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group >2) (p=0.03), ESRD (p=0.02), and late referral (>8 weeks) (p<0.001) significantly affected mortality. Conclusion: ESRD, late referral, and poor functional status were poor prognostic factors predicting postoperative mortality. The decision of surgery should be cautiously assessed given the very high risk of perioperative morbidity and mortality in these patients.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.3-7
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• 2005

This study was conducted to evaluate nutritional status of school children by biochemical assessment method. Subjects were 308 school children from 4th to 6th grade living in Bucheon city. Their blood glucose, total protein, albumin, total cholesterol, and triglyceride (TG) concentrations were determined. Mean blood glucose concentration was 77.56 mg/dl and $81.2\%$ of children had normal blood glucose concentration. The average proportion of hypoglycemia was $18.8\%$ among the three grades and prevalence of hypoglycemia in 4th grade school children was highest ($21.8\%$). Mean serum total protein and albumin levels were 7.14g/dl and 4.35g/dl, respectively, and all the subjects except only one were in normal range of total protein and albumin. Mean serum TG and total cholesterol concentrations were 145.82mg/dl and 94.50mg/dl. Serum TG and total cholesterol levels showed same pattern that the concentrations decreased in proportion to grade. Especially, there was significant difference between grades in serum total cholesterol. Furthermore, $11.7\%$ of 4th, $6.8\%$ of 5th, and $2.8\%$ of 6th grade school children have borderline hypertriglycemia or hypertriglycemia, risk factors of obesity or cardiovascular disease later in life. Taken together, there was conflict phenomenon that undernutrition of hypertriglycemia and overnutrition of hypertriglycemia existed together. Therefore, it is needed to develop discriminating and personalized nutritional feeding, counseling, and education program to cover the children of under- or over- nutritional status.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.18 no.E1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2002

Air quality issues in Korea rapidly changed at the beginning of the 1990s from primary to secondary pollutants starting in Seoul, the capital of Korea. The present frame of national air pollution monitoring networks was established between the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. Background monitoring was initiated in the middle of the 1990s in response to increasing public concern about the long-range transport of air pollutants. Apart from the national monitoring, both routine and intensive measurements of fine particles have been made for research purposes since the middle of the 1990s at several background sites. However, air pollution monitoring in urban areas for other purposes was relatively scarce as national monitoring has been concentrated in these areas. Although ozone pollution has become a significant issue in major metropolitan areas every summer, only a little information on ozone precursors is available. During the past few years, the number of national monitoring stations has greatly increased. The government has a plan to gradually expand monitoring items as well as stations. It is anticipated that highly detailed information on both photochemical reactants and products will be available within the next several years. More emphasis will be placed on toxic substances based on risk assessment in monitoring for both research and policy making.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.1 s.50
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• pp.143-150
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• 2007

AMD (Acid mine drainage) from disused mines is one or the most significant pollutant problems to make harmful effect to human health. We demonstrated the mechanism of resolution and adsorption reaction for arsenic, manganese and zink from the soil and mine tailings which were located in the vicinity of a disused mine in Kyoungnam area. The resolution experiments were carried with a column test f3r 45 days continuously. Metal chemical forms in water were changed with the condition of solution pH and ORP (oxidation-reduction potential). Metal chemical forms affected on the reaction of resolution and adsorption of metals in water environments. Even though the sampling was carried in very closed location, there was significant different results of pollution level and ORP changes in terms of column operations. Hence It was important to note the pH and ORP in AMD to evaluate a risk assessment and a soil management using monitoring metals. When we operate AMD management with the mechanism of resolution and adsorption it can be achieved better economic solution.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.306-310
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• 2007

As a preliminary study for risk assessment of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) from processed food, the levels of 3-MCPD in commercial sauces and instant fried noodle (ramyun) seasoning were analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. In August and September 2005, twenty-five samples of commercial sauces and twenty-five samples of instant fried noodle (ramyun) seasoning were collected from retail outlets and markets in Seoul, Korea. Six out of twenty-five sauces contained 3-MCPD and the highest concentration was 0.045 mg/kg. On the basis of per capita consumption of sauces and mean concentration of 3-MCPD, the estimated daily exposure to 3-MCPD from sauces was $0.094{\mu}g/person/day$. None of the twenty-five instant fried noodle (ramyun) seasoning samples was contained 3-MCPD. Therefore consumption of instant fried noodle (ramyun) seasoning was estimated not to contribute dietary exposure to 3-MCPD.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.148-157
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• 2012

Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) problem is usually formulated as an optimization problem to minimize an objective function subjected to probabilistic constraint functions which may include deterministic design variables as well as random variables. The challenging task is that, because the probability models of the random variables are often assumed based on limited data, there exists a possibility of selecting inappropriate distribution models and/or model parameters for the random variables, which can often lead to disastrous consequences. In order to select the most appropriate distribution model from the limited observation data as well as model parameters, this study takes into account a set of possible candidate models for the random variables. The suitability of each model is then investigated by employing performance and risk functions. In this regard, this study enables structural design optimization and fitness assessment of the distribution models of the random variables at the same time. As the first paper of a two-part series, this paper describes a new design method considering probability model uncertainties. The robust performance of the proposed method is presented in Part 2. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, an example of ten-bar truss structure is considered. The numerical results show that the proposed method can provide the optimal design variables while guaranteeing the most desirable distribution models for the random variables even in case the limited data are only available.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.219-223
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• 2012

For an off-site consequence analysis at nuclear power plant, MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System(MACCS) II code is widely used as a software tool. In this study, the algorithm of web-based off-site consequence analysis program(OSCAP) using the MACCS II code was developed for an Integrated Leak Rate Test (ILRT) interval extension and Level 3 probabilistic safety assessment(PSA), and verification and validation(V&V) of the program was performed. The main input data for the MACCS II code are meteorological, population distribution and source term information. However, it requires lots of time and efforts to generate the main input data for an off-site consequence analysis using the MACCS II code. For example, the meteorological data are collected from each nuclear power site in real time, but the formats of the raw data collected are different from each site. To reduce the efforts and time for risk assessments, the web-based OSCAP has an automatic processing module which converts the format of the raw data collected from each site to the input data format of the MACCS II code. The program also provides an automatic function of converting the latest population data from Statistics Korea, the National Statistical Office, to the population distribution input data format of the MACCS II code. For the source term data, the program includes the release fraction of each source term category resulting from modular accident analysis program(MAAP) code analysis and the core inventory data from ORIGEN. These analysis results of each plant in Korea are stored in a database module of the web-based OSCAP, so the user can select the defaulted source term data of each plant without handling source term input data.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.100-110
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• 2020

Recently, the frequency of typhoon and torrential rain due to climate change is increasing. In addition, the upsurge in the complexity of urban sewer network and impervious surfaces area aggravates the inland flooding damage. In response to these worsening situations, the central and local governments are conducting R&D tasks related to predict and mitigate the flood risk. Researches on the analysis of inundation in urban areas have been implemented through various ways, and the common features were to evaluate the accuracy and justification of the model by comparing the model results with the actual inundation data. However, the evaluation procesure using available urban flooding data are not consistent, and if there are no quantitative urban inundation data, verification has to be performed by using press releases, public complaints, or photos of inundation occurring through 'CCTV'. Because theses materials are not quantitative, there is a problem of low reliability. Therefore, this study intends to develop a comparative analysis procedure on the quantitative degree and applicability of the verifiable inundation data, and a systematic framework for the performance assessment of urban flood analysis model was proposed. This would contribute to the standardization of the evaluation and verification procedure for urban flooding modelling.