• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2007

Purpose : Viral respiratory tract infection is most common cause for admission to hospital in children. There are many cases with elevated transaminase level in patients with viral lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). The aim of this study was to compare indexes of disease severity such as duration of assisted ventilation, length of hospital stay and Respiratory Distress Assessment Instrument (RDAI) score in children with viral LRTI with and without elevated transaminase levels and to determine the etiology related to elevated transaminase levels in this patients group. Methods : Virological analysis was done from respiratory specimens obtained from patients with LRTI admitted to Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital from Jan. 2003 to Jun. 2005. Viral diagnosis was made by isolation of viruses employing HEp-2 cell culture from nasopharyngeal aspiration. Medical records of children were reviewed retrospectively. We compared age, sex, RDAI score, Respiratory Rate (RR) score and mean duration of hospital stay between patients with elevated transaminase levels (Patient Group) and patients with normal transaminase levels (Control Group). Results : Viruses were isolated from 181 children with LRTI. 16 cases were excluded according to criteria. 28 cases (17.0%) had elevated transaminase levels (Patient group) and 137 cases (83.0%) had normal transaminase levels (Control group). There were no significant difference in duration of fever, RR score, RDAI score, incidence of $O_2$ inhalation and duration of hospital stay between patient group and control group. We found 17 (60.7%) cases of RSV, 4 cases (14.3%) of parainfluenza, 4 cases (14.3%) of influenza B virus, 3 cases (10.7%) of adenovirus and 1 case (3.6%) of influenza A virus infection in patient group and 78 cases (56.9%) of RSV, 28 cases (20.4%) of parainfluenza virus, 13 cases (9.5%) of influenza A virus, 9 cases (6.6%) of influenza B virus, 6 cases (4.4%) of adenovirus and 3 cases (2.2%) of coxsackie virus infection in control group. Conclusion : There were 28 cases (17.0%) with elevated transaminase level among patients with virus isolated LRTI. There was no relation between elevated transaminase level and severity of disease. The viral etiologies in two groups were not significantly different. There was no significant difference of age distribution between two groups.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.41-48
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• 1995

In former times the protection of our environment didn't play an important role due to the fact that emissions and effluents were not considered as serious impacts. However, opinions and scientific measurements meanwhile confirmed that the impacts are more serious than expected. Thus measures to protect our earth has to be taken into consideration. A part of these measures in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). One of the most important parts of the EIA is the collection of basic datas and the following evaluation. Experience out of the daily business of Gerling Consulting Group shows that the content of the EIA has to be revised and enlarged in certain fields. The historical development demonstrated that in areas in which the population and the industrial activities reached high concentration there is a high necessity to develop strict environmental laws and regulations. Maximum values of the concentration of hazardous materials were fixed concerning the emission into and water. Companies not following these regulations were punished. The total amount of environmental offences increased rapidly during the last decade, at least in Germany. During this development the public consciousness concerning environmental affairs increased as well in the industrialized countries. But it could clearly be seen that the development in the field of environmental protection went into the wrong direction. The technologies to protect the environment became more and more sophisticated and terms as: "state of the art" guided more and more to lower emissions, Filtertechnologies and wastewater treatment for example reached a high technical level-but all these sophisticated technologies has one and the same characteristic: they were end-of-the pipe solutions. A second effect was that this kind of environmental protection costs a lot of money. High investments are necessary to reduce the dust emission by another ppm! Could this be the correct way? In Germany the discussion started that the environmental laws reduce the attractivity to invest or to enlarge existing investments within the country. Other countries seem to be not so strict with controlling the environmental laws which means it's simply cheaper to produce in Portugal or Greece. Everybody however knows that this is not the correct way and does not solve the environmental problems. Meanwhile the general picture changes a little bit and we think it changes into the correct direction "End-of-the-pipe" solutions are still necessary but this word received a real negative touch and nobody wants to be brought into connection with this word received a real negative touch and nobody wants to be brought into connection with this word especially in connection with environmental management and safety. Modern actual environmental management starts in a different way. Thoughts about emissions start in the very beginning of the production, they start with the design of the product and modification of traditional modes of production. Basis of these ideas are detailed analyses of products and processes. Due to the above mentioned facts that the public environmental consciousness changed dramatically a continous environmental improvement of each single production plant has to be guarantied. This question is already an important question of the EIA. But it was never really checked in a wholistic approach. Environmental risks have to be taken into considerations during the execution of an EIA. This means that the environmental risks have to be reduced down to a capable risk-level. Environmental risks have to be considered within the phase of planning, during the operation of a plant and after shut down. The experience shows that most of the environmental relevant accidents were and caused by human fault. Even in highly protected plants the human risk-factor can not be excluded during evaluation of the risk-potential. Thus the approach of an EIA has to regard technical evaluations as well as organizational thoughts and the human factor. An environmental risk is a threat to the environment. An analysis of the risk concerning the organizational and human aspect however never was properly executed during an EIA. A possible solution could be to use an instrument as the actual EMAS (Environmental Management System) of the EC for more accurate evaluation of the impact to the environment during an EIA. Organizations or investors could demonstrate by an approved EMAS or even by showing their installment of EMAS that not only the technical level of the planned investment meets the requested standards but as well the actual or planned management is able to reduce the environmental impact down to a bearable level.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2007

Objectives : Recently, many authors investigated the relation of temperament and character to seasonality and the genetic factors in seasonality and personality. In this study, we investigated the relation between personality structure obtained from the psychobiological Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and self-reported seasonal variations in mood and behavior measured by the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Methods : 600 high-school students who live in Seoul of Korea, were participated in this study. Subjects were surveyed with the Korean translation of the SPAQ of Rosenthal, an instrument for investigating mood and behavioral changes with respect to the seasons of the you. Korean version of the TCI of Cloninger was also used for assessment of personality. Results : Female students were significantly higher scores on harm avoidance, reward dependence, and cooperativeness than male students who had significant higher scores on persistence and self·transcendence than the formers. GSS were showed positive correlation with harm avoidance and self-transcendence, and negative correlation with cooperativeness and self-directedness. By employing logistic regressions, the regression coefficients of SAD were significantly negative in SD, and positive in ST. Also, the regression coefficients of S-SAD were significantly negative in CO, and positive in ST. Those with GSS at least 11 were significantly higher mean ST values compared to the remaining individuals, and those with worst in winter were significantly lower mean CO values compared to the remaining individuals. Those who considered the seasonality as a problem at least to a moderate degree were associated with high HA and ST. Conclusion : We add the evidence that the seasonality is related to the temperament and character. Although there have been many reports about the seasonality in relation to the temperament and character in foreign countries, there has been very limited report from Korea before. We hope that this result would be a helpful in the clinical field in Korea.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.3
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• pp.78-98
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• 1997

Health education, as the most fundamental concept for national health promotion, alms for developing the self-care ability of the general public. High school days are regarded as the period when most important physical, mental and social developments occur, and most health-related behaviors are formed. School health education is one of the major learning resources influencing health potential in the home and community as well as for the individual student. High school health education in Korea has a fundamental systemic flaw in that health-related subjects are divided and taught under various subjects areas at school. In order to achieve the goal of school health education, it is essential to make a systematic assessment of the learner's concerns connected with his health and life, and the factors affecting them. So far, most of the research projects that had been carried out for improving high school health education were limited in their concerns to a particular aspect of health. Even though some had been done in view of comprehensive school health education, they failed to Include a health assessment of the learner. Therefore, in this study the high school students' concerns related to health and life were investigated in the first place on the basis of the PRECEDE model, developed by Green and others for the purpose of a comprehensive diagnostic research on high school health education. This study was done in two steps : one was the basic study for developing research instrument and the other was the main one. The former was conducted at five high schools in Seoul and Cheongju for 2 months-beginning in March, 1996. The students were asked to respond to questions related to their health and lives in unstructured open-ended question forms. On the basis of analysis of the basic study, the diagnostic instruments for the quality of life, health problems, health behavior and educational factors were constructed to be used for the collection of data for main study. An expert panel and the pilot study were used to improve content validity and reliability of the instruments. The reliability of the instruments was measured at between .7697 and .9611 by the Cronbach $\alpha$. The data for this study were collected from the sample consisted of the junior and senior classes of twenty general and vocational high schools in Seoul and Cheongju for two months period beginning in July, 1996. In analyzing the data, both t-test and $X^2$-test were done by using SAS-$PC^+$ Program to compare data between the sexes of the high school students and the types of high school. A canonical correlation analysis was carried out to determine the relationships among the diagnostic variables, and a multivariate multiple regression analysis was conducted by using LISREL 8.03 to ascertain the influences of variables on the high school students' health and quality of life. The results were as follows : 1) The findings of the hypothesis tests (1) The canonical correlation between the educational diagnosis variables and behavioral, epidemiological, social diagnosis variables was .7221, which was significant at the level of p<.001. (2) The canonical correlation between the educational diagnosis variables and the behavior variables was .6851, which also was significant (p<.001). (3) The canonical correlation between the behavioral diagnosis variables and the epidemiological variables was 4295, which was significant (p<.001). (4) The canonical correlation between the epidemiological diagnosis variables and the social variables was .6005, which was also significant (p<.001). Therefore, the relationship between each diagnosis variable suggested by the PRECEDE model had been experimentally proven to be valid, supporting the conceptual framework of the study as appropriate for assessing the multi-dimensional factors affecting high school students' health and quality of life. Health behavior self-efficacy, the level of parents' interest and knowledge of health, and the level of the perception of school health education, all of which are the educational diagnostic variables, are the most influential variables in students' health and quality of life. In particular, health behavior self-efficacy, a causative factor, was one of the main influential variables in their health and quality of life. Other diagnostic variables suggested in the steps of the PRECEDE model were found to have reciprocal relations rather than a unidirectional causative relationship. The significance of this research is that it has diagnosed the needs of high school health education by the learner-centered assessment of variety of factors related to the health and the life of the students. This research findings suggest an integrated system of school health education to be contrived to enhance the effectiveness of the education by strengthening the influential factors such as self-efficacy to improve the health and quality of the lives of high school students.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.296-305
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• 2002

Rice yield and grain guality were investigated with treatments of silicate fertilizer, straw compost and NPK fertilizer in the paddy soil of silty clay loam from 1975 to 2001. Rice yield of the treatments of silicate fertilizer. $1,500kg\;ha^{-1}$ and straw compost $10,00kg\;ha^{-1}$ were increased by 15%, 10%, respectively, for 27years average yield in comparison with NPK plot. In the plots of NPK+silicate fertilizer $1,500kg\;ha^{-1}$, NPK+silicate fertilizer $2,500kg\;ha^{-1}$, taste value(Toyo instrument) of cooked rice and quality assessment were higher than those in NPK control plot and NPK+straw compost $10,000kg\;ha^{-1}$ plot, but the contents of crude protein, amylose of milled rice grain were lower than those in other treated plots. Nitrogen and phosphorous contents of rice plant were lower, but $SiO_2$ content were higher in the treatment of silicate ferti lizer 1,500, $2,500kg\;ha^{-1}$ than straw compost $10,000kg\;ha^{-1}$ plot. Rice quality assessment was positively correlated with taste value, but it was negatively correlated with crude protein and amylose content of milled rice grain. Ratios of Mg/N, $Mg/N{\cdot}K_2O$, $SiO_2/N$, $SiO_2/P_2O_5$ and $SiO_2/K_2O$ were positively correlated with taste value and quality assessment of rice grain, but negatively correlated with crude protein, amylose and fatty acid content. In soil chemical characteristics related with rice quality after experiment in 2001, soil pH and $SiO_2$ content were positively correlated with taste value and quality assessment of rice grain, but contents of soil $P_2O_5$, ex-K were negatively correlated with them.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.283-296
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• 2014

The distribution of heavy metals in the stormwater runoffs from industrial sites around Shihwa Lake that implements the total pollutant load management system (TPLMS) was studied to characterize the temporal changes of metal concentrations and to assess the ecological risk in dissolved and particulate phases of the selected metals. The dissolved Co and Ni concentration demonstrated first flush and tended to decrease with increasing of the duration of rainfall. The intensity of precipitation was found to be the main controlling factor of particulate metals in the stromwater runoffs. The particulate concentration of Pb accounted for 97.2% so the particulate phase was its main form. Other metals followed the sequence: Pb>Cu>Cd>Co>Zn>Ni. The particulate-dissolved partitioning coefficient ($K_d$) indicated that the $K_d$ of Pb were bigger than that of other metals because the metal Pb in the stormwater runoffs is quickly removed into the particulate phase. In a single day rainfall event, total runoff fluxes for total metals as the sum of dissolved and particulate forms through only two sewer outlets were 2.21 kg for Co, 30.5 kg for Ni, 278.3 kg for Cu, 398.3 kg for Zn, 0.39 kg for Cd and 40.0 kg for Pb, respectively. Given the annual rainfall, the number of rain days and the basin area for total pollutant load management system (TPLMS) of Shihwa area, enormous amount of non-point metal pollutants were entered into Lake with any treatment. The dissolved metals (e.g., Ni, Cu and Zn) in the stormwater runoffs exceeded the acute water quality criteria. Additionally, all metals were significantly enriched in the particulate phase and exceeded the PEL criteria of sediment quality guidelines (SQGs). These results indicated that the heavy metals in the stormwater runoffs may pose a very high ecological risk to the coastal environments and ecosystem.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.378-394
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• 2016

Purpose: Screening of preschool-age children for nutrition programs to improve dietary intake and behaviors requires cost-effective and easily administered validated assessment tools. The purpose of this study was to develop a parent/caregiver-administered instrument for measuring diet quality and behaviors of preschoolers as a nutrition quotient for preschoolers (NQ-P). Methods: Development of NQ-P was carried out in three steps: item generation, item reduction, and validation. The 24-h dietary record was selected as the gold standard reference tool. The 38 items of the NQ-P checklist were derived from a systematic literature review, expert in-depth interviews, statistical analysis of the fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, and national nutrition policies and recommendations. Self-administered questionnaires were delivered to parents who recorded 24-h dietary intakes of 100 responders aged 3~5 yr. Pearson's correlation was used to measure the level of agreement between questionnaires. Item reduction was performed, and 20 items were selected based on survey results, expert reviews, and priorities of national nutrition policy and recommendations. The 412 nationwide subjects sampled through daycare centers completed the 20-item checklist questionnaire. The construct validity of the NQ-P was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis, LISREL. Results: After analyses of exploratory factors, NQ-P items identified three dimensions of diet (balance, moderation, and environment). The three-factor structure accounted for 49.28% of the total variance. Standardized path coefficients were used as weights of the items. The NQ-P and three-factor scores of the subjects were calculated by the obtained weights of the questionnaire items. Conclusion: A food behavior checklist for preschoolers' NQ would be a useful and suitable instrument for evaluating nutrition adequacy and dietary quality of Korean preschoolers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8573-8578
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• 2016

Background: This study was guided by principles of the theoretical system of evidence-based medicine. In particular, when searching for evidence of breast cancer, a measuring scale is an instrument for evaluating curative effects in accordance with the laws and characteristics of medicine and exploring the establishment of a system for medically assessing curative effects. At present, there exist few tools for evaluating curative effects. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) refer to outcomes directly reported by patients (without input or explanations from doctors or other intermediaries) with respect to all aspects of their health. Data obtained from PROs provide evidence of treatment effects. Materials and Methods: In accordance with the tenets of theoretical medicine and ancient medical theory regarding breast cancer, principles for developing a PRO scale were established, and a theoretical model was developed and a literature review was performed, items from this pool were combined and split, and an initial scale was constructed. After a pilot survey and additional modifications, a pre-questionnaire scale was formed and used in a field investigation. After the application of statistical methods, the item pool was used to create a formal scale. The reliability, validity and feasibility of this formal scale were then assessed. Results: In a clinical investigation, 479 responses were recovered, with an acceptance rate of 95%. a combination of various methods was employed, and the items that were selected by all methods or more than half of the methods were employed in the questionnaire. In these cases, the screening methods were combined with certain features of the item, A total of four domains and 38 items were reserved. The reliability analysis indicated that the PRO scale was relatively reliable. Conclusions: Scientific assessment proved that the proposed scale exhibited good reliability and validity. This scale was readily accepted and could be used to assess the curative effects of medical therapy. However, given the limited scope of this investigation, the capacity for adapting this scale to incorporate other theories could not be determined.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.121-134
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• 2001

The purpose of this study were to analyze the home care services and to evaluate the client's satisfaction with the home care services provided by home care service center in the C hospital. The data were collected by reviewing charts of 128 home care clients who were receiving home care services at C hospital from October 1997 to September 2000. The subjects for satisfaction of home care service were 20 clients from July 10 to September 30, 2000. The tool for measurement of present condition of home care service was developed by the researchers. The satisfactions of the home care services were measured by using the instrument developed by Im(997). The data were analyzed by using the SPSS/PC+. The results of this study were as followings : 1. Majority of the subjects was female(61.7%). The average of age was 63.5 years. The service has been used mostly by the elderly 60 years of age or older(71.1%). The economic level of most of subjects was in middle class(94.5%). 2. Majority of the subject had a cancer(55.4%), following stroke(25.0%). The average duration of disease for the subjects was 31 months. The average time of hospitalization for the subjects was 3.3 times. The duration of hospitalization was 10$\sim$30 days(26.6%), 30$\sim$60 days(23.4%) and above of the 210 days(9.4%). 3. Most of the subjects used his/her doctor (47.7%), as a consultant, following his/her nurse (28.1%), other patients or their family (21.9%). Most of reasons for a consultation were supportive management(Infusion or medication, 60.94%), following tube management(L-tube or T-tube, 25%), Foley catheter management (15.63%) etc. 4. 28 types of nursing diagnoses were used by the home care service. The nursing diagnosis altered nutrition: less than body requirement were used mostly by the home care service, following risk for infection, impaired skin integrity, impaired swallowing, ineffective airway clearance altered comfort: pain, impaired physical mobility. By the human-response pattern, exchanging(63.2%), moving(7.5%), feeling(10.4%), knowing(5.2%), communicating (2.6%), relating(0.5%) perceiving(0.4%) and choosing(0.3%). There were 42 nursing intervention types were performed by the home care service. By the NIC(nursing intervention classification. McCloskey. Bulech. 1996). physiologic: complex (30.3%) was the most, safety(28.3%), behavioral(20.0%), physiologic: basic(10.8%) and health system(1.7%). Observation or assessment was the most nursing intervention performed by the home care service. following IV infusion. vital sign observation. infusion management and fluid-electrolyte balance management. 5. The level of client's satisfaction with provided home care services showed considerably high(2.67/ 3).

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.38-45
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• 2017

Objectives: Radon may be second only to smoking as a cause of lung cancer. Radon is a colorless, tasteless radioactive gas that is formed via the radioactive decay of radium. Therefore, radon levels can build up based on the amount of radium contained in construction materials such as phospho-gypsum board or when ventilation rates are low. This study provides our findings from evaluation of radon gas at facilities and offices in an industrial complex. Methods: We evaluated the office rooms and processes of 12 manufacturing factories from May 14, 2014 to September 23, 2014. Short-term data were measured by using real-time monitoring detectors(Model 1030, Sun Nuclear Co., USA) indoors in the office buildings. The radon measurements were recorded at 30-minute intervals over approximately 48 hours. The limit of detection of this instrument is $3.7Bq/m^3$. Also, long-term data were measured by using ${\alpha}-track$ radon detectors(${\alpha}-track$, Rn-tech Co., Korea) in the office and factory buildings. Our detectors were exposed for over 90 days, resulting in a minimum detectable concentration of $7.4Bq/m^3$. Detectors were placed 150-220 cm above the floor. Results: Radon concentrations averaged $20.6{\pm}17.0Bq/m^3$($3.7-115.8Bq/m^3$) in the overall area. The monthly mean concentration of radon by building materials were in the order of gypsum>concrete>cement. Radon concentrations were measured using ${\alpha}-track$ in parallel with direct-reading radon detectors and the two metric methods for radon monitoring were compared. A t-test for the two sampling methods showed that there is no difference between the average radon concentrations(p<0.05). Most of the office buildings did not have central air-conditioning, but several rooms had window- or ceiling-mounted units. Employees could also open windows. The first, second and third floors were used mainly for office work. Conclusions: Radon levels measured during this assessment in the office rooms of buildings and processes in factories were well below the ICRP reference level of $1,000Bq/m^3$ for workplaces and also below the lower USEPA residential guideline of $148Bq/m^3$. The range of indoor annual effective dose due to radon exposure for workers working in the office and factory buildings was 0.01 to 1.45 mSv/yr. Construction materials such as phospho-gypsum board, concrete and cement were the main emission sources for workers' exposure.