• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.587-596
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• 2012

Alopecia is usually presented as patchy, no scarring hair loss. It seems to be a hormonal imbalance or an immune mediated disease, whereas genetic predisposition, environmental and psychological factors may be involved in its etiology. Many treatments of alopecia disease have been widely applied, but their side effects are also well known. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate efficacy and safety of a food supplement containing medicinal plant extracts, amino acid and vitamin complex on the prevention of hair loss in human. A total of 20 subjects aged between 29-50 years with subjective hair loss complaint were recruited for this study. Each subject took 1 g/day supplement for 3 months. 5-Scale self-assessment test, hair loss count and measurement of hair thickness were conducted to evaluate the effect of supplement on the improvement of hair loss. Subjective hair loss was decreased and hair damage and thickness were improved in self-assessment test. After 3 months of supplementation, hair loss counts were decreased (P<0.05) while hair thickness was increased(P<0.001) significantly. There was no side effect observed during the study. These results suggest that the supplement consist of medicinal plant extracts, amino acid and vitamin complex might be useful for the improvement of hair loss with no significant side effects.

• Journal of Korean Society of societal Security
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2011

Recently, Inhabitants nearby the high embankment road have requested a civil complaint on the environmental deteriorations and economic harms. This study was carried out numerical simulation using the 3-D microclimate model 'Envi-met' in order to investigate the variations of a flow field and a temperature field at the road sections with a high embankment and a bridge. About the simulation of flow field, the wind field has changed due to the disturbance of airflow by a high embankment road considerably. And the wind velocity decreased in the whole of simulation space widely. But, the wind velocity and wind direction sited loose to the section of a bridge, relatively. In the results of a temperature field, the slight variations of temperature field were discovered by the disturb of the mixing flow from a high embankment road. These results indicate that the numerical simulation can provide useful information to minimize the disasters, such as traffic accidents and various microclimatic environments in the transportation projects.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.205-210
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• 2011

This study aims to assess MEE(management effectiveness evaluations) on PAs(protected areas) for forest genetic resources which play an important role in biodiversity conservation, and then to suggest better ways to manage PAs for forest genetic resources. This study applies same indicators of the MEE on PAs as the ones described in the prior study(Ryu et al. 2011). The indicators applied are composed of five elements, thirty-two indicators which all would be grouped into one element by each traits. Overall indicators belonging to the element of output and outcome are comparatively low. Especially the ones related to the change of biodiversity, degree of ecosystem health, variation of civil complaint and visitor satisfaction are ranked mostly low. The element of input shows the low rank on the number of staff and budget. The score of indicators related to the identification of the threats of PAs and local communities' supports turn out to be low in the element of Context. The element of process, however, has scored low on Staff management, Education/Awareness programs and Governance, while the law enforcement, management regulation and capacity to prevent forest disasters have made relatively high score. Meanwhile, all indicators in the element of planning have scored relatively high as compared to the indicators belonged to other elements. This study suggests to strengthen a few constructive proposals, such as facilitating efficient management framework for PAs, developing local community cooperation program, establishing survey, research and monitoring system, and registering PAs to the WDPA(World Database on Protected Areas) according to the IUCN categories.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.101-109
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• 2016

This research is to explore food waste management across local governments. In particular, pubic administration on food waste, food waste management (from generation to disposal) and civil complaints in jurisdiction are examined. In doing so, a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among civil officers in charge of food waste management, and all the collected responses were statistically analyzed. The main results were as follows: public spending on food waste management was a little larger in metropolises than in provincial cities, and the largest food waste source was identified as households (in housing). While regular collection of food waste by trucks was the most common transport method adopted by local governments, resource recovery for compost/fertilizer production was widely used. Also, most of the respondents agreed that the current approach to food waste handling practices are necessarily replaced with more advanced technology converting waste into energy or fuel. Further, it's found that the civil complaints on food waste management were largely categorized into 3 groups - food waste handling, civil service and food waste retrieval. Therefore, the findings indicate that the development and application of no-food waste or waste-to-resource systems are effective in housing estates where large amount of food waste is generated and eliminated.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.240-245
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• 2015

This study aimed to provide the basic data to establish measures for the management of the public toilets and reduction of the offensive odor through the air dilution olfactory method and instrumental analysis about offensive odor dilution rate of public toilets, focusing on the Dong-gu, Daejeon Metropolitan City, Korea. The offensive odor intensities ranged from 10 degree to 669 degrees in the urinal toilets and from 31 to 464 in closet bowl toilets. Meanwhile, toilets that had offensive odor of more than 2.5, of which a civil complaint can be filed, were researched 6 (33%). Offensive odor intensities were different according to the closet bowl toilets of the flush, fermented and conventional methods and the year of their installation, but not according to the area of the toilets. As a result of the instrumental analysis targeting 6 public toilets to identify the offensive odor substance, the maximal concentration of $NH_3$ was 2.04 ppm and the average concentration was 0.67 ppm, but $H_2S$, $CH_3SH$ and $(CH_3)_3N$ were not detected. In the fermented and conventional public toilets were not soaps, air fresheners and wastebaskets. Just 50% of the flush toilets had toilet tissue.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 2005

Objective : To elucidate the correlates of self-rated fatigue in Korean employees. Methods : The data for 10,176 (men, 7,984; women, 2,192; mean age, 34.2; SD: 8.8) employees recruited from a nationwide sample were examined. A structured questionnaire was used to measure the participants' fatigue, sociodemographics (sex, age, education, and marital status), job-related characteristics (work duration, grade at work, work hours, shiftwork, employment type, and magnitude of workplace), and health-related habits (smoking, drinking, coffee intake, and exercise). Two types of measurement for fatigue were used to evaluate the magnitude of fatigue: self-rated question and a standardized measurement tool (Multidimensional Fatigue Scale: MFS). Results : According to the self-rated fatigue, 32% of employees reported that they felt fatigue for the past two weeks, and 9.6% of males and 8.7% of females had experienced excessive fatigue (6 months or more). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that fatigue measured by MFS was more common in women, younger, college or more graduated, single, and employees who do not regularly exercise. Fatigue was also associated with long work hours, and the size of the workplace (<1,000 employees). Conclusions : These results suggest that fatigue has been considered as a common complaint, and that it is affected by job-related factors like work hours and the workplace size as well as sociodemographics or health-related behaviors. Further research is needed to clarify the effects of fatigue on adverse health outcomes, work performance, work disability, sick absence and medical utilization, and to examine the relationship of job characteristics (e.g.: work demand, decision latitude) to fatigue.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.18-40
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• 2008

Measurements of health related quality of life can be used to compare patients with specific conditions to average individuals in the general population in a similar age and gender group. However there are few data available regarding health related quality of life for the general population of Korea. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the validity of the Korean version of EQ-5D and to measure the health related quality of life of the general adult population in a metropolitan city. The survey was cross-sectional and employed a stratified and multistage sampling design through 100 examination sites in 5 districts of UIsan. A total of 12,644 individuals from 4,112 households participated in the survey. Of these, we analyzed data from 8,068 adults who were over 19 years old and completed the EQ-5D. To examine the validity of the questionnaire, the differences in 5 dimensions and the $EQ-5D_{index}$ were analyzed with regard to demographic and socioeconomic factors such as sex, age, income, and education. In addition, visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to evaluate the overall health related quality of life issues of the respondents. The level of health related quality of life of the general adult population was then compared with the results from the third Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and other countries. There were a small number of people with problems related tomobility, self-care, and usual activity. In addition, many people complained ofpain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. The complaint rate in each dimension, VAS, and $EQ-5D_{index}$ indicated relatively better states for males, the younger group, the higher income group, and the higher education group. In addition, the level of health related quality of life of the general population of Ulsan was relatively higher than that of Koreans nationwide as well as the populations of other countries. EQ-SD provided a valid measure of the health-related quality of life of the general adult population. In addition, the results of a survey of Ulsan revealed that the quality of life of its population is better than that of the overall population of Korea and of the populations of other countries.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.65-69
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• 2009

Purpose: Recently incidence of VDT syndrome has gradually increased as extensive use of computers. VDT syndrome reported by VDT workers include musculoskeletal disorder, neuropsychiatric disoders and eye symptoms such as eye strain, tired eyes, irritation and blurred vision. The environmental factors of VDT syndrome include electromagnetic waves, size, brightness and lighting of computer screen, height of a monitor and a worktable, working hours, kind of task, distance between screen and workers, indoor humidity and temperature, indoor air contamination and ventilation. In this study, we investigated the environmental factors related to body symptoms and health effects included in VDT syndrome. Methods: Study subjects were total 120 persons (54 male, 66 female) with age from 19 to 28. We surveyed the body symptoms and physical discomfort when doing an activity in a short distance such as reading book or paper, computer work. The questionnaire included main body symptoms, self-consciousness symptoms of eye, satisfaction of working environment, pain of the wrist when using keyboard and mouse. Results: Most of people (70%) felt physical pain from long time work of computer, paper, electrical apparatus. They mainly complained pain of neck and low back (57.1%), eye (45.2%) and head (31%). With the environmental factors, 78.3% of the subjects complaint pain of eye from inappropriate illumination. Most of the symptoms included 'eye fatigue'(38.3%), 'dryness of eye'(31.9%) and 'blurred vision'(23.7%). Subjects in this study complained discomfort of their chairs and most of them experienced pain in the wrist when using keyboard or mouse. Conclusions: When people use electrical apparatus or work with paper, people would get their eye fatigue and feeling of physical fatigue because of not harmonizing various environmental factors such as light, space, posture, worktable with theirselves. Therefore, workers should develop preventive method such as self-control of adequate break time to avoid fatigue while VDT work. Work environment should be changed to ergonomic design for optimal visual environment to prevent musculoskeletal disorder through constant research.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.182-191
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• 2011

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the sleep patterns of South Korean elementary school children and whether the differences in sleep patterns were related to behavior, emotional problems, attention and academic performance. Method: This study included a community sample of 268 boys and girls from fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade classes in a South Korean metropolitan city from November to December 2010. The primary caregivers completed a questionnaire that included information on demographic characteristics, as well as the Child's Sleep Habit Questionnaire (CSHQ), the Korean version of Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL), the Korean version of the Learning Disability Evaluation Scale (K-LDES), the Korean version of ADHD Rating Scale (K-ARS) and the Disruptive Behavior Disorder Scale (DBDS). We conducted analyses on the CSHQ individual items, between the subscales, on the total scores and on the K-CBCL, the K-LEDS, the K-ARS and the DBDS. Results: Based on the findings from the CHSQ, the subjects had significantly higher scores for bedtime resistance ($9.18{\pm}2.17$), delayed sleep onset ($1.32{\pm}0.62$), the sleep duration ($4.19{\pm}1.52$) and daytime sleepiness ($14.10{\pm}3.55$) than the scores from the previous reports on children from western countries. The total CHSQ score showed positive correlations to all subscales of the K-CBCL : withdrawn (r=0.24, p<.005), somatic complaint (r=0.24, p<.005) and anxious/depressive (r=0.38, p<.005). Bedtime resistance was associated with oppositional defiant disorder (r=0.15, p<.05) and a positive correlation was demonstrated between sleep anxiety and the oppositional defiant disorder score (r=0.13, p<.05), night waking and the conduct disorder score (r=0.16, p<.05). Delayed sleep onset was related with low performance on the K-LDES with respect to thinking (r=-0.17, p<.05) and mathematical calculation (r=-0.17, p<.05). Conclusion: The results of this study reconfirm Korean children's problematic sleep patterns. Taken together the results provide that the reduced sleep duration and disruption of sleep pattern can have a significant impact on emotion, behavior, performance of learning in children. Further studies concerning more diverse psychosocial factors affecting sleep pattern will be helpful to understanding of the sleep health in Korean children.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.224-239
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• 1994

In this study we examined several subjective symptoms in an exposed group and an unexposed group to perchloroethylene. The exposed group consists to 30 workers employed in 23 dry-cleaning establishments located in Chung Cheung Do, whereas the unexposed group consists of 42 officers employed in a certain university. This study was conducted from October, 1993 to March, 1994. Also we investigated personal exposure levels and area concentration of PCE, and performed hematological and biochemical examination in blood and urine samples from the exposed group. The results are : 1. The exposed group highly complains several subjective symptoms, particularly in neuropsychiatry, eye, respiratory system and digestive system, compared with the unexposed group. But complaint rates in the exposed group are not related with PCE exposure levels. 2. PCE exposure levels for all dry-cleaning establishment varied widely, from 0.18 to 37.58ppm. The mean exposure level for centers of chain was 16.85ppm, and for local laundries was 8.83ppm, while for self-service establishment it was 3.07ppm. Eighty three percent of the workers were exposed less than the half-level(25.0ppm) of the Korea 50.0ppm standard for eight-hour PCE exposure. Seventeen percent of them exceeded the half-level of the Korea TLV. 3. Statistical correlation exists between the work load(number of operation cycles of equipment and the mass of processed textiles) and the personal exposure levels to be observed. 4. In hematological examination the values of WBC, RBC, Hgb, Hct, MCV, MCH, MCHC and PLT in the exposed group were within normal ranges. In biochemical examination(GOT, GPT, ALP, U-A and LDH) most of the items were within normal ranges. From this surveys conducted on 23 dry-cleaning establishments, the complaint rates of the exposed group to PCE in several subjective symptoms were higher than those of the unexposed group, and PCE exposure levels in all dry-cleaning establishment were below the Koera standard 50.0ppm. In hematological and biochemical examination the significant abnormalities by occupational exposure to PCE were not observed. However, the workers employed in dry-cleaning establishments are always faced with risk, becauses they are also exposed to several organic solvents used to remove stains. Therefore, various measures to improve occupational environment in dry-cleaning establishment should be considered.