• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.256-262
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• 2010

This study evaluated the airborne concentrations of fungi in university laboratories, hospital diagnostic laboratories in Seoul. The incubated fungi was identified by lactophenol cotton blue (LPCB) staining method. Variables such as types of ventilation, temperature and relative humidity were investigated to explain laboratory airborne fungal concentrations. A total of 97 air samples were collected from 10 facilities in two institutions. Aspergilus spp., including Aspergilus niger, Aspergillius flavos and Penicillium spp. were found as predominant species. Airborne fungal concentrations ranged from not detected (ND) to 1,890 CFU/$m^3$. Airborne fungal concentrations were high in general-ventilated facilities and in laboratories where relative humidity ( > 60 %) were high ( p < 0.001). Therefore, we suggest that relative humidity should be maintained to properly reduce the concentration of fungal in university and hospital laboratories.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.23-26
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• 2014

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the concentration of total airborne bacteria (TAB) in biosafety cabinets (BSCs) at universities and hospital microbial laboratories to assess the performance of BSCs. Methods: TAB was determined by using the single-stage Anderson sampler (BioStage Viable Cascade Impactor). The samples were obtained three times (with the BSC turned off and the shield open; with the BSC turned off and the shield closed; and with the BSC tuned on and operating) from the areas in front of 11 BSCs. Results: TAB concentrations of accredited and nonaccredited BSCs were determined. No significant differences were observed in the TAB concentrations of the accredited BSCs and the nonaccredited BSCs for the areas outside the BSCs in the laboratories (p > 0.05). TAB concentrations for the BSCs sampled with the shield open and the instrument turned off showed differences based on the sampling site outside the BSC in each laboratory. Conclusion: These results imply that TAB concentration is not altered by the performance of the BSCs or TAB itself and/or concentration of TAB outside the BSC is not a good index of BSC performance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1838-1854
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• 2023

This paper presents a hybrid algorithm to solve the multi-objective path planning (MOPP) problem for mobile robots in a static nuclear accident environment. The proposed algorithm mimics a real nuclear accident site by modeling the environment with a two-layer cost grid map based on geometric modeling and Monte Carlo calculations. The proposed algorithm consists of two steps. The first step optimizes a path by the hybridization of improved ant colony optimization algorithm-modified A^* (IACO-A^*) that minimizes path length, cumulative radiation dose and energy consumption. The second module is the high radiation dose rate avoidance strategy integrated with the IACO-A^* algorithm, which will work when the mobile robots sense the lethal radiation dose rate, avoiding radioactive sources with high dose levels. Simulations have been performed under environments of different complexity to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, and the results show that IACO-A^* has better path quality than ACO and IACO. In addition, a study comparing the proposed IACO-A^* algorithm and recent path planning (PP) methods in three scenarios has been performed. The simulation results show that the proposed IACO-A^* IACO-A^* algorithm is obviously superior in terms of stability and minimization the total cost of MOPP.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1476-1484
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• 2023

Laboratory experiments and point monitoring of reservoir sediments have proven that stable sulfate reduction (SSR) can lower the concentrations of toxic metals and sulfate in acidic groundwater for a long time. Here, we hypothesize that SSR occurred during in situ leaching after uranium mining, which can impact the fate of acid groundwater in an entire region. To test this, we applied a sulfur isotope fractionation method to analyze the mechanism for natural attenuation of contaminated groundwater produced by acid in situ leaching of uranium (Xinjiang, China). The results showed that δ³⁴S increased over time after the cessation of uranium mining, and natural attenuation caused considerable, area-scale immobilization of sulfur corresponding to retention levels of 5.3%-48.3% while simultaneously decreasing the concentration of uranium. Isotopic evidence for SSR in the area, together with evidence for changes of pollutant concentrations, suggest that area-scale SSR is most likely also important at other acid mining sites for uranium, where retention of acid groundwater may be strengthened through natural attenuation. To recapitulate, the sulfur isotope fractionation method constitutes a relatively accurate tool for quantification of spatiotemporal trends for groundwater during migration and transformation resulting from acid in situ leaching of uranium in northern China.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.227-235
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• 2008

Recently, as change in global logistics environment, various issues have been presenting. These issues are including the pursuit of low cost-high added value, the realization of sustainable logistics system, the protection of environment, and the development of ubiquitous techniques. To cope with these environment changes and improve the national logistics system, the government have carried out various logistics policies and pushed ahead development of national logistics information network. But still, from a view-point of national logistics, there are several inefficient elements such as information connection and utilization, code/data standardization. In this paper, the survey result of global logistics environment change, logistics policy of a developed countries, domestic logistics policy and information system status will be presented. And from these status, suggestive points are mentioned. Finally the status of railway logistics information and future developments are presented.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.457-466
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• 2023

Background: During hot environment work tasks with whole-body enclosed anti-bioaerosol suit, the combined effect of heavy sweating and exhaled hot humid air may cause the N95 medical respirator to saturate with water/sweat (i.e., water-blocking). Methods: 32 young male subjects with different body mass indexes (BMI) in whole-body protection (N95 medical respirator + one-piece protective suit + head covering + protective face screen + gloves + shoe covers) were asked to simulate waste collecting from each isolated room in a seven-story building at 27-28℃, and the weight, inhalation resistance (R_f), and aerosol penetration of the respirator before worn and after water-blocking were analyzed. Results: All subjects reported water-blocking asphyxia of the N95 respirators within 36-67 min of the task. When water-blocking occurred, the R_f and 10-200 nm total aerosol penetration (P_t) of the respirators reached up to 1270-1810 Pa and 17.3-23.3%, respectively, which were 10 and 8 times of that before wearing. The most penetration particle size of the respirators increased from 49-65 nm before worn to 115-154 nm under water-blocking condition, and the corresponding maximum size-dependent aerosol penetration increased from 2.5-3.5% to 20-27%. With the increase of BMI, the water-blocking occurrence time firstly increased then reduced, while the R_f, P_t, and absorbed water all increased significantly. Conclusions: This study reveals respirator water-blocking and its serious negative impacts on respiratory protection. When performing moderate-to-high-load tasks with whole-body protection in a hot environment, it is recommended that respirator be replaced with a new one at least every hour to avoid water-blocking asphyxia.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.536-544
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• 2012

It is necessary to study the material circulation of coastal ecosystem according to aquacultural activity in order to induce the sustainable production of aquaculture and the fishery environment for the useful use. Hence, it is essential to make an exact assessment for the sedimentation release flux at the sediment-water interface in the aquafarm. Sediment oxygen demand and dissolved inorganic nitrogen release fluxes were compared using in-situ and laboratory incubational examination. Sediment oxygen demands were 116, 34, and $31\;mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (in-situ incubation), 52, 17, and $15\;mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (Core incubation) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen release fluxes were 7.18, 7.98, and $1.78\;mmol\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (in-situ incubation), 3.33, 3.74, and $1.96\;mmol\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (Core incubation) at Tongyeong finfish, Yeosu finfish, and Wando abalone cage farms, respectively. Consequently, in-situ incubation results showed two times higher than laboratory examination. We compared the material flux at the sediment-water interface of each farm and the characteristics between two different kinds of material flux examination.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.13-24
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• 2001

The Real-Time Best-Estimate simulator NPA4K is being developed for providing an efficient nuclear power, KALIMER, simulation environment for transient safety analyses using information visualization. The advanced features of NPA4K simulator are the Once-Through Running Environment, Functionalities of displaying the several X-Y Plot on one system, and Multi-thread Processing, The objective of NPA4K simulator is ta realize the Virtual Reality Environment through Network and Internet technology in Nuclear Power Plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.733-739
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• 2021

Acinetobacter strains are widely present in the environment. Some antimicrobial-resistant strains of this genus have been implicated in infections acquired in hospitals. Genetic similarities have been reported between Acinetobacter strains in nosocomial infections and those isolated from foods. However, the antimicrobial resistance of Acinetobacter strains in foods, such as meat, remains unclear. This study initially aimed to isolate Campylobacter strains; instead, strains of the genus Acinetobacter were isolated from meat products, and their antimicrobial resistance was investigated. In total, 58 Acinetobacter strains were isolated from 381 meat samples. Of these, 32 strains (38.6%) were from beef, 22 (26.5%) from pork, and 4 (4.8%) from duck meat. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests revealed that 12 strains were resistant to more than one antimicrobial agent, whereas two strains were multidrug-resistant; both strains were resistant to colistin. Cephalosporin antimicrobials showed high minimal inhibitory concentration against Acinetobacter strains. Resfinder analysis showed that one colistin-resistant strain carried mcr-4.3; this plasmid type was not confirmed, even when analyzed with PlasmidFinder. Analysis of the contig harboring mcr-4.3 using BLAST confirmed that this contig was related to mcr-4.3 of Acinetobacter baumannii. The increase in antimicrobial resistance in food production environments increases the resistance rate of Acinetobacter strains present in meat, inhibits the isolation of Campylobacter strains, and acts as a medium for the transmission of antimicrobial resistance in the environment. Therefore, further investigations are warranted to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance in food products.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1597-1610
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• 2022

At present, the main method of high-speed train chassis detection is using computer vision technology to extract keypoints from two related chassis images firstly, then matching these keypoints to find the pixel-level correspondence between these two images, finally, detection and other steps are performed. The quality and accuracy of image matching are very important for subsequent defect detection. Current traditional matching methods are difficult to meet the actual requirements for the generalization of complex scenes such as weather, illumination, and seasonal changes. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the high-speed train image matching method based on deep learning. This paper establishes a high-speed train chassis image matching dataset, including random perspective changes and optical distortion, to simulate the changes in the actual working environment of the high-speed rail system as much as possible. This work designs a convolutional neural network to intensively extract keypoints, so as to alleviate the problems of current methods. With multi-level features, on the one hand, the network restores low-level details, thereby improving the localization accuracy of keypoints, on the other hand, the network can generate robust keypoint descriptors. Detailed experiments show the huge improvement of the proposed network over traditional methods.