• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• 제30권sup호
• /
• pp.2.1-2.11
• /
• 2015

Objectives This study presents a methodology that enables a quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies. Methods The study carries out a quantitative evaluation of a particular case of material reutilization by calculating the level of "greenness" i.e., the level of compliance with the principles of green chemistry that was achieved by implementing a green chemistry technology. Results The results indicate that the greenness level was enhanced by 42% compared to the pre-improvement level, thus demonstrating the economic feasibility of green chemistry. Conclusions The assessment technique established in this study will serve as a useful reference for setting the direction of industry-level and government-level technological R&D and for evaluating newly developed technologies, which can greatly contribute toward gaining a competitive advantage in the global market.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• 제6권4호
• /
• pp.124-130
• /
• 2018

Proper management and prevention of dysphagia are urgently needed in acute care of stroke patients in Korea. However, no highly sensitive and accessible nurse-led screening tools have been validated within the Korean settings. The purpose of this study was to validate a screening tool led by nurses to identify dysphagia and aspiration risks among acute stroke patients. Registered nurses (RNs) screened 131 residents from a university hospital in South Korea using the Korean version of the Standardized Swallowing Assessment (K-SSA). Results were validated against those from the Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS). Compared to results from the GUSS, with 9- and 14-point cutoffs, the K-SSA had a sensitivity of 0.80 and specificity of 0.90 [95% CI 0.806, 0.992] for screening dysphagia and 1.00 sensitivity and 0.94 specificity [95% CI 0.862, 1.000] for screening aspiration risks. The K-SSA demonstrated excellent sensitivity and specificity for screening individuals at risk of dysphagia and aspiration when led by RNs for acute stroke patients.

• 보건의료기술평가
• /
• 제6권2호
• /
• pp.88-94
• /
• 2018

This review aims to provide implications for relevant domestic policies and researches from Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), a reinforcement model for primary care and its evaluations in the United States. As chronic diseases became dominant, changes in the health care delivery system in which primary care is central was required. The United States initiated primary care-reinforcing policies based on the PCMH following the increased demand for evidence-based health care policies. The current activities of the United States such as sharing research tools used to evaluate primary care interventions and circulating evaluation findings provide examples to Korea. Systematic evaluations for primary care interventions are required and appropriate methods using various types of data to reflect the real-world settings should be prepared. It is necessary to conduct policy assessment studies of public interests considering regional context. Support for the researches to make and advance from the existing environment must be examined.

• 한국환경보건학회지
• /
• 제44권4호
• /
• pp.397-407
• /
• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate human health risk assessment of indoor air pollutants at small-sized public-use facilities (e.g., daycare centers, hospital and elderly care facilities) that the susceptible population is mainly used. Methods: To assess indoor air quality (IAQ), the concentrations of indoor air contaminants such as HCHO, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, styrene, PM-10, CO, $NO_2$ and $O_3$ in air samples were measured according to the Indoor Air Quality Standard Method. By conducting the questionnaire survey, the major factors influencing IAQ were identified. Human health risk assessment was carried out in the consideration of type of use (user and worker) at 75 daycare centers, 34 hospitals and 40 elderly care facilities. Results: As a result of measurement of indoor air contaminants, the average concentration of HCHO and TVOCs in hospitals was higher than daycare centers and elderly care facilities, about 8.8 and 23.5% of hospitals were exceeded by IAQ standard. In human health risk assessment, for the user of daycare centers and elderly care facilities, the mean carcinogenic risk of HCHO inhalation was higher than acceptable value. Except for HCHO, other values were determined under acceptable risk. Similarly, for the worker of hospitals, the mean carcinogenic risk of HCHO inhalation was higher than acceptable value and other values were evaluated under acceptable risk. In contrast, the risk levels of other contaminants measured in elderly care facilities were acceptable. In the determination of factors influencing IAQ, the construction year, building type, ventilation time, and the use of air cleaner were identified. Conclusions: This study provides the information for establishing the plans of public health management of IAQ at small-sized public-use facilities that have not yet been placed under the regulation. The findings suggest the consideration of human health risk assessment results for the IAQ standards.

• 한국과학교육학회지
• /
• 제23권4호
• /
• pp.386-400
• /
• 2003

This paper presents an analysis of the Developmental Approaches in Science, Health and Technology (DASH) program, a K-6 curriculum developed by the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) at the University of Hawaii employing the curriculum analysis framework created by Posner. Using this framework the analyst found that the DASH design is based on the research on learning, teaching, and assessment now driving efforts to reform science education at the elementary level. DASH embraces the constructivist idea that learning is a personal and social process and the recapitulation model that new concepts are built out of theories previously learned. DASH provides an understandable, exciting, and memorable experience in the operations of science, health, and technology, and develops their capacity to use the skills and knowledge of science, health, and technology both in and outside school. A number of studies of DASH have examined its functionality, effectiveness of pedagogy and what students learn. The innovative nature of DASH necessitated a multidimensional assessment that included both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Ongoing development of the DASH program in the research setting of a university laboratory school permits ever deeper connections with emerging curriculum theory and curriculum practice, and allows new linkages as ideas are tested in research classrooms.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• 제1권2호
• /
• pp.192-200
• /
• 2010

Objectives: We have investigated the toxic effects of the inhalation of subchronic and acute levels of n-octane. Methods: The rats were exposed to n-octane of 0, 2.34, 11.68 and 23.36 mg/L (n = 5 rats/group/gender) in an acute inhalation test (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) TG 403), or to 0, 0.93, 2.62 and 7.48 mg/L (n = 10 rats/group/gender) for a subchronic inhalation test (OECE TG 413), to establish a national chemical management system consistent with the Globally Harmonized Classification System (GHS). Results: Acutely-exposed rats became lethargic but recovered following discontinuation of inhalation. Other clinical symptoms such as change of body weight and autopsy finds were absent. The LC50 for the acute inhalation toxicity of n-octane was determined to exceed 23.36 mg/L and the GHS category was 'not grouping'. Subchronically-treated rats displayed no significant clinical and histopathological differences from untreated controls; also, target organs were affected hematologically, biochemically and pathologically. Therefore, the no observable adverse effect level was indicated as exceeding 7.48 mg/L and the GHS category was 'not grouping' for the specific target organ toxicity upon repeated exposure. Conclusion: However, n-octane exposure should be controlled to be below the American Conference of Industrial Hygienists recommendation (300 ppm) to prevent inhalation-related adverse health effects of workers.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• 제17권4호
• /
• pp.48.1-48.6
• /
• 2019

Over the last decade, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have provided an unprecedented amount of genetic variations that are associated with various phenotypes. However, previous GWAS were mostly conducted in European populations, and these biased results for non-Europeans may result in a significant reduction in risk prediction for non-Europeans. An issue with the early GWAS was the winner's curse problem, which led to misleading results when constructing the polygenic risk scores (PRS). Therefore, more non-European population-based studies are needed to validate reported variants and improve genetic risk assessment across diverse populations. In this study, we validated 422 variants independently associated with glycemic indexes, liver enzymes, and type 2 diabetes in 125,872 samples from a Korean population, and further validated the results by assessing publicly available summary statistics from European GWAS (n = 898,130). Among the 422 independently associated variants, 284, 320, and 361 variants were replicated in Koreans, Europeans, and either one of the two populations. In addition, the effect sizes for Koreans and Europeans were moderately correlated (r = 0.33-0.68). However, 61 variants were not replicated in both Koreans and Europeans. Our findings provide valuable information on effect sizes and statistical significance, which is essential to improve the assessment of disease risk using PRS analysis.

• 한국환경보건학회지
• /
• 제47권4호
• /
• pp.356-365
• /
• 2021

Background: Concerns have been raised regarding the criteria of groundwater, in particular in Gwangwon-do Province where many residents drink groundwater due to the poor supply of tap water and a high nonconformity rate with water quality criteria nationwide. Objectives: Water quality monitoring and risk assessment were conducted for groundwater in Hoengseong, Gangwon-do Province. Methods: A total of 46 items required for meeting drinking water criteria were analyzed from 258 samples collected from March 2017 through August 2018 (152 sites in 2017 and 106 sites in 2018). Risk assessment was conducted for two non-carcinogens (F^- and NO₃-N), and one carcinogen (i.e., arsenic) based on their high nonconformity to water quality criteria. Results: Water quality analysis revealed that the total proportion of nonconformities was determined to be 27.9%. The nonconformity rate for each content item is as follows: total colony counts (1.6%), total coliform (6.2%), Escherichia coli (1.2%), F^- (8.1%), arsenic (4.7%), NO₃-N (8.1%), pH (1.2%), manganese (0.4%), and turbidity (5.8%). Risk assessment indicated that fluoride induced a hazard quotient greater than 1 with the 95% UCL (Upper Confidence Limit) concentration of the total 258 sites and average, median, and 95% UCL concentrations of nonconformity sites. For NO₃-N, there was no human health risk. For arsenic, the excess cancer risk exceeded the acceptable cancer risk of 1×10^-6 with the average and 95% UCL concentrations of total 258 sites and average, median, and 95% UCL concentrations of nonconformity sites. Conclusions: This study suggests that it is necessary to expand water quality monitoring of groundwater and conduct a more detailed risk assessment in order to establish a health care plan for the residents of Hoengseong, Gangwon-do Province.

• 청정기술
• /
• 제13권3호
• /
• pp.161-172
• /
• 2007

청정기술의 발전을 위하여 나노기술이 융합된 새로운 기술의 도입이 필요하다. 최근 개발된 나노입자, 나노튜브 등은 이미 많은 소비재의 원료로 사용되고 있으며, 인체 및 환경에 쉽게 노출될 수 있다. 이러한 나노입자는 작은 크기와 넓은 비표면적 특성으로 인해 기존물질에 비하여 반응성이 높고 인체나 환경에 독성을 나타낼 커다란 잠재성을 가지고 있으며, 이미 많은 연구결과에서 이러한 나노물질이 인체 및 환경 유해성을 유발하는 원인과 결과에 대하여 보고하고 있다. 본 논고에서는 나노기술 기반 청정기술 발전의 방향을 제시하기 위하여 나노물질의 인체 및 환경 유해성에 관한 위험성평가 방안을 검토하고, 나노물질의 잠재적인 위해성을 살펴보고자 한다.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제55권5호
• /
• pp.415-423
• /
• 2022

Economic evaluations in the healthcare are used to assess economic efficiency of pharmaceuticals and medical interventions such as diagnoses and medical procedures. This study introduces the main concepts of economic evaluation across its key steps: planning, outcome and cost calculation, modeling, cost-effectiveness results, uncertainty analysis, and decision-making. When planning an economic evaluation, we determine the study population, intervention, comparators, perspectives, time horizon, discount rates, and type of economic evaluation. In healthcare economic evaluations, outcomes include changes in mortality, the survival rate, life years, and quality-adjusted life years, while costs include medical, non-medical, and productivity costs. Model-based economic evaluations, including decision tree and Markov models, are mainly used to calculate the total costs and total effects. In cost-effectiveness or costutility analyses, cost-effectiveness is evaluated using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, which is the additional cost per one additional unit of effectiveness gained by an intervention compared with a comparator. All outcomes have uncertainties owing to limited evidence, diverse methodologies, and unexplained variation. Thus, researchers should review these uncertainties and confirm their robustness. We hope to contribute to the establishment and dissemination of economic evaluation methodologies that reflect Korean clinical and research environment and ultimately improve the rationality of healthcare policies.