• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.459-466
• /
• 2011

Sleep diseases such as snoring and sleep apnea are physically, mentally harmful and results serious health problems. Snoring, known as breathing noise, is caused by coupled oscillation of the airway when the air passes through the trachea, and sleep apnea is caused by upper airway blockage. In order to solve these problems, many attempts have been made to detect the snoring during sleep and alleviate it. In this study, a new sensing system and analysis algorithm were developed in order to detect snoring sounds correctly under various sleep environments. Two polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) vibration sensors were used inside the pillow. The first PVDF sensor detects vibration transmitted through skull caused by snoring. And the second PVDF sensor detects both snoring sounds and ambient noises. The signals of two sensors were acquired through the designed analog circuits, and analyzed for snoring detection. Ten volunteers were participated for the experiment under five different conditions. Data from two PVDF sensors were processed by the established analysis algorithm, and snoring sounds were compared to noises. The results indicated that the energy of snoring is 70% bigger than that of ambient noise, which proves effectiveness of sensing system and analysis algorithm. Further study would be continued for more wide clinical studies with various environment noises. Based on this study, development of anti-snore pillow and sleep monitoring system for comfort sleep could be developed.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.297-306
• /
• 2013

This study used long-term air and weather data from 2000 to 2009 as raw data sets to develop regression models in order to estimate precipitation scavenging contributions of ambient $PM_{10}$ and $NO_2$ in Korea. The data were initially analyzed to calculate scavenging ratio (SR), defined as the removal efficiency for $PM_{10}$ and $NO_2$ by actual precipitation. Next, the effective scavenging contributions (ESC) with considering precipitation probability density were calculated for each sector of precipitation range. Finally, the empirical regression equations for the two air pollutants were separately developed, and then the equations were applied to test the model validity with the raw data sets of 2010 and 2011, which were not involved in the modeling process. The results showed that the predicted $PM_{10}$ ESC by the model was 23.8% and the observed $PM_{10}$ ESCs were 23.6% in 2010 and 24.0% in 2011, respectively. As for $NO_2$, the predicted ESC by the model was 16.3% and the observed ESCs were 16.4% in 2010 and 16.6% in 2011, respectively. Thus the developed regression models fitted quite well the actual scavenging contribution for both ambient $PM_{10}$ and $NO_2$. The models can then be used as a good tool to quantitatively apportion the natural and anthropogenic sink contribution in Korea. However, to apply the models for far future, the precipitation probability density function (PPDF) as a weather variable in the model equations must be renewed periodically to increase prediction accuracy and reliability. Further, in order to apply the models in a specific local area, it is recommended that the long-term oriented local PPDF should be inserted in the models.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.32 no.4 s.91
• /
• pp.304-315
• /
• 2006

This study is performed to reexamine the association between ambient air pollution and daily mortality in seven major cities of Korea using a method of meta-analysis with the data filed for the period 1998-2001. These cities account for half of the Korean population (about 23 million). The observed concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO, mean=1.08 ppm), ozone ($O_3$, mean=33.97 ppb), particulate matter less than 10 ${\mu}m$ ($PM_{10},\;mean=57.11\;{\mu}g/m^3$), nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$, mean=25.09 ppb), and sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$, mean=9.14 ppb) during the study period were at levels below Korea's current ambient air quality standards. Generalized additive models were applied to allow for the highly flexible fitting of seasonal and long-term time trends in air pollution as well as nonlinear associations with weather variables, such as air temperature and relative humidity. Also, we calculated a weighted mean as a meta-analysis summary of the estimates and its standard error. In city-specific analyses, an increase of $41.17{\mu}g/m^3(IQR)\;of\;PM_{10}$ corresponded to $1{\sim}12%$ more deaths, given constant weather conditions. Like most of air pollution epidemiologic studies, this meta-analysis cannot avoid fleeing from measurement misclassification since no personal measurement was taken. However, we can expect that a measurement bias be reduced in district-specific estimate since a monitoring station is better representative of air quality of the matched district. Significant heterogeneity was found for the effect of all pollutants. The estimated relative risks from meta-like analysis increased compared to those relative risks from pooled analysis. The similar results to those from the previous studies indicated existence of health effect of air pollution at current levels in many industrialized countries, including Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.33 no.5
• /
• pp.365-371
• /
• 2007

To evaluate the effect of air pollution on respiratory health in children, We conducted a longitudinal study in which children were asked to record their daily levels of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate(PEFR) using potable peak flow meter(mini-Wright) for 4 weeks. The relationship between daily PEFR and ambient air particle levels was analyzed using a mixed linear regression models including gender, age in year, weight, the presence of respiratory symptoms, and relative humidity as an extraneous variable. The daily mean concentrations of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ over the study period were $64.9{\mu}g/m^3$ and $46.1{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The range of daily measured PEFR in this study was $182{\sim}481\;l/min$. Daily mean PEFR was regressed with the 24-hour average $PM_{10}(or\;PM_{2.5})$ levels, weather information such as air temperature and relative humidity, and individual characteristics including sex, weight, and respiratory symptoms. The analysis showed that the increase of air particle concentrations was negatively associated with the variability in PEFR. We estimated that the IQR increment of $PM_{10}$ or $PM_{2.5}$ were associated with 1.5 l/min (95% Confidence intervals -3.1, 0.1) and 0.8 l/min(95% CI -1.8, 0.1) decline in PEFR. Even though this study showed negative findings on the relationship between respiratory function and air particles, it was worth noting that the findings must be interpreted cautiously because exposure measurement based on monitoring of ambient air likely resulted in misclassification of true exposure levels and this was the first Korean study that $PM_{2.5}$ measurement was applied as an index of air quality.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.275-288
• /
• 2009

The Korean government strengthened the environmental polices to manage and enhance Metropolitan Area air quality, and also has enforced "Special Act on Seoul Metropolitan Air Quality Improvement (SASMAQI)" issued in Dec. 2004. Recently government expanded the Seoul Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) to the outskirts satellite cities of Seoul area through the "Revised Law Draft of SASMAQI". The SMAQMD has been alloted the allowable emission loads to the local governments on the basis of the carrying $PM_{10}$ capacity. However, in order to establish the effective air quality control strategy for $PM_{10}$, it is necessary to understand the corresponding sources which have a potential to directly impact ambient $PM_{10}$ concentration. To deal with the situations, many receptor methodologies have been developed to identify the origins of pollutants and to determine the contributions of sources of interests. The objective of this study was to extensively identify $PM_{10}$ sources and to estimate their contributions at the metropolitan area. $PM_{10}$ samples were simultaneously collected at the 3 semi-industrialized local cities in the Seoul metropolitan area such as Hwasung-si, Paju-si, and Icheon-si sites from April 15 to May 31, 2007. The samples collected on the teflon membrane filter by one $PM_{10}$ cyclone sampler were analyzed for trace metals and soluble ions and samples on the quartz fiber filter by another sampler were analyzed for OC and EC. Source apportionment study was then performed by using a positive matrix factorization (PMF) receptor model. A total of 6 sources were identified and their contributions were estimated in each monitoring site. Contribution results on Hwasung, Paju, and Icheon sites were as follows: 33%, 27%, and 27% from soil source, 26%, 26%, and 21% from secondary aerosol source, 11%, 11%, and 12% from biomass burning, 12%, 6%, and 5% from sea salt, 7%, 15%, and 19% from industrial related source, and finally 11%, 15%, and 16% from mobile and oil complex source, respectively. This study provides information on the major sources affecting air quality in the receptor sites and thus it will help to manage the ambient air quality in the metropolitan area by establishing reasonable control strategies, especially for the anthropogenic emission sources.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.189-201
• /
• 2017

This study focused on the Gaya mural tomb located in Goa-ri, Goryeong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, Republic of Korea. Environmental factors such as ambient temperature, relative humidity and surface temperature, and microbial distribution on mural tombs were monitored for one year to gather data on the conservation environment of the mural tombs. The average internal temperature difference with reference to the ambient outer temperature was observed to be $11.7^{\circ}C$ for the monitoring period and the internal temperature of the tomb was found to change periodically every one or two months in response to the outer temperature. The highest temperature was observed in September and the lowest in March. The relative humidity in the mural tomb remained constant at 100%. Between December and April, condensation occurred on the ceiling of the main room of the tomb, where the murals are located. On the ceiling of the aisle, the condensation occurred throughout the year. The inside and surface wall were isolated from microorganisms, which could grow when a suitable growth environment suitable is established. Based on microbial growth temperature conditions, risk periods of microbial hazards were established, where in the period from August to October was identified as the most dangerous.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.165-170
• /
• 2011

The ambient concentrations of nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$) at 65 forest areas were measured every month using passive diffusive samplers from 2002 to 2009 and were compared to those at urban areas in order to investigate the characteristics of temporal and spatial distributions of $NO_2$ from the forest and urban areas. The annually averaged concentrations of $NO_2$ gradually decreased for both areas. The average concentration of $NO_2$ in the forest areas was 8.0 ppb, which was lower than that in the urban areas (i.e., 19.4 ppb) and the ecological standard level of the European Union (i.e., 14.6 ppb). The monthly average of $NO_2$ concentration depicted seasonal variations particularly in the urban areas, showing higher concentration in winter and lower concentration in summer. Strong locality of $NO_2$ concentration distribution illustrates that the locations near the metropolitan areas (e.g., Gyeonggi and Chungnam provinces) had the highest concentration during the measurement period. A significant positive correlation between $NO_x$ emissions and $NO_2$ concentration was observed, suggesting that the magnitude and proximity to sources of atmospheric nitrogen oxides would be important controlling factors.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.429-439
• /
• 1996

A comprehensive air quality monitoring was carried out in this study to investigate the concentrations of criteria air pollutants in indoor and outdoor air of public facilities in Taegu area. Four different kinds of public facilities were seleced as sampling sites, which are underground stores, stations & terminals, general hospitals, and department stores. Each group of the public facilities was consisted of three different sampling sites. As a consequence, a total of 12 different sampling sites were surveyed throughout this study. Sampling was conducted simultaneously indoors, three times per day (in the morning, afternoon, and evening) and four times per year (spring, summer, fall, and winter) at each sampling site during the period of October 1994 to July 1995. A range of criteria pollutants were measured in order to obtain a broad profile of indoor and ambient air quality, including total suspended particles (TSP), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), formaldehyde (HCHO), sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$), and nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$). In addition, temperature, relative humidity, and air current were measured on site together with those air pollutants. Results of this study indicated that the indoor levels of TSP, CO, $SO_2, and NO_2$ appeared to be generally higher in stations/terminals and underground stores than those in department stores and hospitals. However, HCHO and $CO_2$ were found to have higher levels in the department stores and hospitals than other places, indicating that the effects of indoor sources for these pollutants are significantly different from other combustion related pollutants such as TSP, CO, and $SO_2$. It was also found that there are marked seasonal and daily variations both in indoor and outdoor air quality. In general, combustion related pollutants such as CO, $SO_2$ and $NO_2$ showed a typical pattern of higher levels in winter than insummer, and also higher in the morning and/or in the evening than in the afternoon. However, the seasonal and daily patterns of HCHO appeared to be opposite to the combustion related pollutants, i.e., higher both in summer and in the afternoon, implying the effect of temperature on the volatilization from indoor sources of HCHO. Results of correlation analyses between indoor and outdoor air quality also indicated that the effects of outdoor sources on the indoor levels of TSP, $SO_2$, CO, and $NO_2$ and much significant, whilst no significant correlations between indoor and outdoor levels were found for HCHO and $CO_2$.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.19-26
• /
• 2018

In recent years, the substantial increase in the population's average age leads to an exceeded number of older persons comparing with the number of any other age group. As a result, both industry and academia are focused on the development of several solutions aimed to guarantee a healthy and safe lifestyle to the elderly. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) approach is the way to guarantee better life conditions for the aged and for monitoring their health conditions by the development of innovative technologies and services. AAL technologies can also provide more safety for the elderly, offering emergency response mechanisms, fall detection solutions, and video surveillance systems. Unfortunately, due to the sensitive nature of AAL data, AAL systems should satisfy security requirements such as integrity, confidentiality, availability, anonymity, and others. In this paper, we propose an adaptive authentication protocol for the AAL systems. The proposed authentication protocol not only supports several important security requirements needed by the AAL systems, but can also withstand various types of attacks. In addition, the security analysis results show that the proposed authentication protocol is more efficient and secure than the existing authentication protocols.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.77-83
• /
• 2019

With the increase in population, the number of such senior citizens is increasing day by day. These senior citizens have a variety of care needs, but there are not enough health workers to look after them. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) aims at ensuring the safety and health quality of the older adults and extending the number of years the senior citizens can live independently in an environment of their own preference. AAL provides a system comprising of smart devices, medical sensors, wireless networks, computer and software applications for healthcare monitoring. AAL can be used for various purposes like preventing, curing, and improving wellness and health conditions of older adults. While information security and privacy are critical to providing assurance that users of AAL systems are protected, few studies take into account this feature. In this paper, we propose a secure and lightweight authentication scheme for the AAL systems. The proposed authentication scheme not only supports several important security requirements needed by the AAL systems, but can also withstand various types of attacks. Also, the security analysis results are presented to show the proposed authentication scheme is more secure and efficient rather than existing authentication schemes.