• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.93-102
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• 2011

Purpose: The study aimed to evaluate working environment for dental technician by measuring dust level, ventilation conditions and the use of personal protective equipment and to provide basic information required to improve working environment and develop health education programs for dental technician. Methods: A total of 240 dental technician who are registered with the Daegu Association of Dental technician and working at 34 dental laboratories participated in the study. And the dust level was measured at 21 different spots in 16 dental laboratories out of 34. Results: Of 34 dental laboratories, 31 (91.2%) were equipped with a ventilator, but the remaining 3 (8.8%) did not have a ventilator. By the number of ventilator, 1 to 3 ventilators were found in 22 dental laboratories (71.0%), 4 to 6 ventilators were in 7 laboratories (22.5%) and more than 7 ventilators in 2 laboratories(6.5%). According to the frequence of changing filters in dust collector, 20 dental laboratories (58.9%) changed filters every four weeks, 10 laboratories (29.4%) changed them every six weeks and 4 laboratories (11.7%) changed them every eight weeks. Of total respondents, 114 (61.3%) said they wore a mask all the time while working, 56 (29.6%) said they frequently wore a mask, 19 (10.1%) said they did not wear a mask. As for the type of masks, 159 (84.1%) used a disposable mask, 25 (13.2%) used a cotton mask and 5 (2.7%) used an anti-dust mask. For dust sat on their outfits while working, 102 (54.0%) shook their uniforms inside workplace to keep dust off the uniforms, 64 (33.9%) did not anything until they wash their uniforms and 23 (12.1%) shook their uniforms outside workplace to keep dust off the uniforms. Of total respondents, 182 (96.3%) had a particle in their eyes while carrying out grinding work. Based on the measurement of floating dust at workplace, 3 dental laboratories showed dust concentration exceeding the minimum level of 10 mg/$m^3$ allowed under the permit for environment. Of those, 1 laboratory had the dust concentration that was more than 1.5 times higher than the minimum level. Dust concentration was higher in laboratories that used a dust collector with 0.5 horse power and changed filters more than 3 weeks ago. Dust comprised of nickel (more than 70%), chrome (9%) and others. The mean chrome concentration was more than twice higher than the minimum permissible level of 0.5 mg/$m^3$. There were two laboratories that showed chrome concentration exceeding the level of 0.4 mg/$m^3$. Like dust concentration, chrome level was higher in laboratories that used a dust collector with 0.5 horse power and changed filters more than 3 weeks ago. There were six laboratories that had nickel concentration exceeding the minimum permissible level of 1 mg/$m^3$. Of those, one laboratory had nickel concentration that was more than three times higher than the minimum permissible level. Nickel concentration was also higher in laboratories that used a dust collector with 0.5 horse power and changed filters more than 3 weeks ago. Conclusion: It is not likely that heavy metal concentrations found in the study constitute respiratory dust. It is however necessary for health of dental technician to apply the Industrial Safety and Healthy Law to dental laboratories and make recommendations for the use of personal protective equipment, installation of a proper number of ventilators, more frequent change of filters in dust collector and improved ventilation for polishing work. At the same time, dental technician need education on how to use personal protective equipment and how to efficiently remove dust from their uniforms.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2006

Purpose: The estimation of fluid deficit is crucial to the proper management of dehydrated children. Without well-documented serial weights on the same scale, the estimation of any given child's fluid deficit is imprecise and dependent largely on subjective clinical criteria. Despite the abundance of literature on clinical and laboratory evaluation of dehydration, few studies have focused on serum uric acid. So, we examined the usefulness of scrum uric acid in gastroenteritis patients with dehydration. Methods: Medical records of 90 gastroenteritis patients were retrospectively reviewed. By the body weight loss, we classified patients with mild, moderate, and severe dehydration groups. We studied the relevance of laboratory data (BUN, creatinine, serum bicarbonate, glucose, urine specific gravity, and uric acid) with dehydration. Results: 54 children (60%) were dehydrated mildly, 24 (26%) dehydrated and moderately, and 12 (14%) dehydrated severely. Statistically significant differences in BUN, creatinine, serum bicarbonate, glucose, and urine specific gravity could not be observed. But there was significant relationship between uric acid and the degree of dehydration. Data analysis suggested that the level of 7.0 mg/dL is the best cut-off value for predicting the development of moderate or severe dehydration. At this cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity were 66.6% and 87.1%. Conclusion: Our study supports that the measurement of serum uric acid with traditional scale is useful for predicting the development of dehydration. But, in order 10 be used as the indicator for proper treatment at an earlier stage, further validation about serum uric acid is necessary.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.227-248
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• 1990

The study was conceived in relation to a concern over the growing gap between the needs of chronic patients and the availability of care from the current health care system in Korea. Patients with agonizing chronic pain, discomfort, despair and disability are left with helplessly unprepared families with little help from the acute care oriented health care system after discharge from hospital. There is a great need for the development of an alternative means of quality care that is economically feasible and culturally adaptible to our society. Thus, the study was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of home heath care as an alternative to bridge the existing gap between the patients' needs and the current practice of health care. The study specifically purports to test the effects of home care on health expenditure, readmission, job retention, compliance to health care regime, general conditions, complications, and self-care knowledge and practices. The study was guided by the operations research method advocated by the Primary Health Care Operations Research Institute(PRICOR) which constitutes 3 stages of research : namely, problem analysis solution development, and solution validation. The first step in the operations research was field preparation to develop the necessary consensus and cooperation. This was done through the formation of a consulting body at the hospital and a steering committee among the researchers. For the stage of problem analysis, the Annual Report of Seoul National University Hospital and the patients records for last 5 years were reviewed and selective patient interviews were conducted to find out the magnitude of chronic health problems and areas of unmect health care needs to finally decide on the kinds of health problems to study. On the basis of problem analysis, the solution development stage was devoted to home care program development asa solution alternative. Assessment tools, teaching guidelines and care protocols were developed and tested for their validity. The final stage was the stage of experimentation and evaluation. Patients with liver diseases, hemiplegic and diabetic conditions were selected as study samples. Discharge evaluation, follow up home care, measurement and evaluation were carried out according to the protocols of care and measurement plan for each patient for the period of 6 months after discharge. The study was carried out for the period from Jan. 1987 to Dec. 1989. The following are the results of the study presented according to the hypotheses set forth for the study ; 1. Total expenditures for the period of study were not reduced for the experimental group, however, since the cost per hospital visit is about 4 times as great as the cost per home visit, the effect of cost saving by home care will become a reality as home care replaces part of the hospital visits. 2. The effect on the rate of readmission and job retention was found to be statistically nonsignificant though the number of readmission was less among the experimental group receiving home care. 3. The effect on compliance to the health care regime was found to be statistically significant at the 5% level for hepatopathic and diabetic patients. 4. Education on diet, rest and excise, and medication through home care had an effect on improved liver function test scores, prevention of complications and self - care knowledge in hepatopathic patients at a statistically significant level. 5. In hemiplegic patient, home care had an effect on increased grasping power at a significant level. However. there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the level of compliane, prevention of complications or in self-care practices. 6. In diabetic patients, there was no difference between the experimental and control groups in scores of laboratory tests, appearance of complications, and self-care knowledge or self -care practices. The above findings indicate that a home care program instituted for such short term as 6 months period could not totally demonstrate its effectiveness at a statistically significant level by quantitative analysis however, what was shown in part in this analysis, and in the continuous consultation sought by those who had been in the experimental group, is that home health care has a great potential in retarding or preventing pathological progress, facilitating rehabilitative and productive life, and improving quality of life by adding comfort, confidence and strength to patients and their families. For the further studies of this kind with chronic patients it is recommended that a sample of newly diagnosed patients be followed up for a longer period of time with more frequent observations to demonstrate a more dear- cut picture of the effectiveness of home care.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.226-233
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adaptation of lithium disilicate crowns fabricated by CAD-CAM (computer aided design-computer aided manufacturing) and heat-press technique to compare two different measurement methods in assessing fit of the ceramic crowns: micro CT and cross-section technique. Materials and methods: A prepared typodont mandibular molar for ceramic crown was duplicated and ten dies were produced by milling the PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) resin. Ten vinyl polysiloxane impressions were made and stone casts were produced. Five dies were used for IPS e.max Press crowns with heat-press technique. The other five dies were used for IPS e.max CAD crowns with CAD-CAM technique. Ten lithium disilicate crowns were cemented on the resin dies using zinc phosphate cement with finger pressure. The marginal and internal fits in central buccolingual plane were evaluated using a micro CT. Then the specimens were embedded and cross-sectioned and the marginal and internal fits were measured using scanning electronic microscope. The two measurement methods and two manufacturing methods were compared using Mann-Whitney U test (SPSS 22.0). Results: The marginal and internal fit values using micro CT and cross-section technique were similar, showing no significant differences. There were no significant differences in adaptation between lithium disilicate crowns fabricated with CAD-CAM and heat-press technique. Conclusion: Both micro CT and cross-section technique were acceptable methods in the evaluation of marginal and internal fit of lithium disilicate crown. There was no difference in adaptation between lithium disilicate crowns fabricated with CAD-CAM and heat-press technique except occlusal fit.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2005

The procedure of soil sampling for on-farm quick test of soil nitrate is very important to improve practical application without weighing or drying soil. To improve application of test strip reflectometer as a quick on-farm analytical procedure for the estimation of soil nitrate concentration, three sampling methods such as gravimetric sampling (GS), particle density sampling (PDS) and bulk density sampling (BDS) for on-farm analytical procedure were investigated with twelve soils of 45 to $281mg\;kg^{-1}$ nitrate nitrogen concentration. The nitrate nitrogen concentrations measured from different soils were compared with two analytical methods, ion electrode method as a standard laboratory analysis (SLA) and test strip reflectometer at three moisture conditions, viz. air dried soil, 20 and 40% of maximum water holding capacity (MWHC). Nitrate nitrogen concentration measured by test strip reflectometer was significantly correlated with that of SLA, and the coefficients of variation (CV) were in the range of 3.5 to 10.9%. These CV values less than 10.9% were thought to be acceptable for the measurement of soil nitrate as an on-farm real time analytical procedure. The nitrate nitrogen concentration by BDS for test strip reflectometer as well as ion electrode method was more similar to that of SLA compared with those by GS and PDS especially in case of moist soils. This result suggests that the BDS is more useful than GS and PDS in case of on-farm analytical procedure of soil nitrate for moist soils. Further the practical measurement by BDS could be improved by substituting the bottle cap with a larger container.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.142-149
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• 2011

An isocratic high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for routine analysis of deoxynivalenol in noodles was validated and estimated the measurement uncertainty. Noodles (dried noodle and ramyeon) were analyzed by HPLC-ultraviolet detection using immunoaffinity column for clean-up. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 7.5 ${\mu}g$/kg and 18.8 ${\mu}g$/kg, respectively. The calibration curve showed a good linearity, with correlation coefficients $r^2$ of 0.9999 in the concentration range from 20 to 500 ${\mu}g$/kg. Recoveries and Repeatabilities expressed as coefficients of variation (CV) spiked with 200 and 500 ${\mu}g$/kg were $82{\pm}2.7%$ and $87{\pm}1.3%$% in dried noodle, and $97{\pm}1.6%$ and $91{\pm}12.0%$ in ramyeon, respectively. The uncertainty sources in measurement process were identified as sample weight, final volume, and sample concentration in extraction volume as well as components such as standard stock solution, working standard solution, 5 standard solutions, calibration curve, matrix, and instrument. Deoxynivalenol concentration and expanded uncertainty in two matrixes spiked with 200 ${\mu}g$/kg and 500 ${\mu}g$/kg were estimated to be $163.8{\pm}52.1$ and $435.2{\pm}91.6\;{\mu}g$/kg for dried noodle, and $194.3{\pm}33.0$ and $453.2{\pm}91.1\;{\mu}g$/kg for ramyeon using a coverage factor of two which gives a level of statistical confidence with approximately 95%. The most influential component among uncertainty sources was the recovery of matrix, followed by calibration curve.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2014

Purpose : To establish a pH measurement system for a mouse tumor study using a clinical scanner, to develop the $^1H$ and 31P radio frequency (RF) coil system and to test pH accuracy with phantoms. Materials and Methods: The $^1H$ and the $^{31}P$ surface coils were designed to acquire signals from mouse tumors. Two coils were positioned orthogonally for geometric decoupling. The pH values of various pH phantoms were calculated using the $^1H$ decoupled $^{31}P$ MR spectrum with the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. The calculated pH value was compared to that of a pH meter. Results: The mutual coil coupling was shown in a standard $S_{12}$. Coil coupling ($S_{12}$) were -73.0 and -62.3 dB respectively. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) obtained from the homogeneous phantom $^1H$ image was greater than 300. The high resolution in vivo mice images were acquired using a $^{31}P$-decoupled $^1H$ coil. The pH values calculated from the $^1H$-decoupled $^{31}P$ spectrum correlated well with the values measured by pH meter ($R^2$=0.97). Conclusion: Accurate pH values can be acquired using a $^1H$-decoupled $^{31}P$ RF coil with a clinical scanner. This two-surface coil system could be applied to other nuclear MRS or MRI.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.241-263
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• 2010

KoFlux is a Korean network of micrometeorological tower sites that use eddy covariance methods to monitor the cycles of energy, water, and carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the key terrestrial ecosystems in Korea. KoFlux embraces the mission of AsiaFlux, i.e. to bring Asia's key ecosystems under observation to ensure quality and sustainability of life on earth. The main purposes of KoFlux are to provide (1) an infrastructure to monitor, compile, archive and distribute data for the science community and (2) a forum and short courses for the application and distribution of knowledge and data between scientists including practitioners. The KoFlux community pursues the vision of AsiaFlux, i.e., "thinking community, learning frontiers" by creating information and knowledge of ecosystem science on carbon, water and energy exchanges in key terrestrial ecosystems in Asia, by promoting multidisciplinary cooperations and integration of scientific researches and practices, and by providing the local communities with sustainable ecosystem services. Currently, KoFlux has seven sites in key terrestrial ecosystems (i.e., five sites in Korea and two sites in the Arctic and Antarctic). KoFlux has systemized a standardized data processing based on scrutiny of the data observed from these ecosystems and synthesized the processed data for constructing database for further uses with open access. Through publications, workshops, and training courses on a regular basis, KoFlux has provided an agora for building networks, exchanging information among flux measurement and modelling experts, and educating scientists in flux measurement and data analysis. Despite such persistent initiatives, the collaborative networking is still limited within the KoFlux community. In order to break the walls between different disciplines and boost up partnership and ownership of the network, KoFlux will be housed in the National Center for Agro-Meteorology (NCAM) at Seoul National University in 2011 and provide several core services of NCAM. Such concerted efforts will facilitate the augmentation of the current monitoring network, the education of the next-generation scientists, and the provision of sustainable ecosystem services to our society.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.122-131
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• 2016

Caesium radioisotopes, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs which come from the atmospheric nuclear tests and discharges from nuclear power plants, are very important to study artificial radioactivity. In this work, in order to lower the minimum detection activity (MDA) we investigated environmental radioactivity according to the Environment Measurement Laboratory procedure by ¹³⁷Cs and ¹³⁴Cs which is similar to chemical and environmental behaviors of ¹³⁷Cs. The environmental soils in high mountain areas near nuclear power plant were collected, and an Ammonium Molybdophosphate (AMP) precipitation method, which showed high selectivity toward Cs⁺ ions, was applied to chemically extract and concentrate Caesium radioisotopes. Radioactivity was estimated by a gamma-ray spectrometry. In gamma energy spectrum, with an increasing of ⁴⁰K radioactivity, it increased the MDA of ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs. Therefore, if the natural radionuclides were removed from the soil samples, the MDA of Caesium may be reduced, and the contents of ¹³⁷Cs of in the environmental soils can effectively be estimated. In the standard soil sample of Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, radioactivity of ⁴⁰K was removed more than 84% on average, and the MDA of ¹³⁴Cs was reduced 2 times. The content of ¹³⁷Cs was recovered over 84%. On the other hand, in environmental soils, AMP precipitation method showed removal ratio of ⁴⁰K up to 180 times, which reduced the MDA about 5 times smaller than those of Direct method. ¹³⁷Cs recovery ratio showed from 54.54% to 70.06%. When considering the MDA and recovery ratio, AMP precipitation method is effective for detection of Caesium radioisotopes in low concentration.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.1031-1038
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• 1998

Background: Most of malignant pleural effusions are serous but 8-33% of them are bloody. We wanted to evaluate the relationships between gross appearance and pleural CEA level or results of histocytology in malignancy associated pleural effusions. We also tried to reevaluate the meaning of CEA measurement in histocytologically proved or unproved malignancy associated pleural effusions. Methods: We studied 98 cases of malignancy associated pleural effusions, 50 cases of histocytologically proven malignant effusions and 48 cases of histocytologically unproven paramalignant effusions. We had observed gross appearance and conventional laboratory values and CEA levels for pleural effusions. Results: 44.9% of malignancy associated effusions were bloody(63.6% of bloody effusions were histocytologically proven malignant effusion). 65.0% of malignancy associated pleural effusions which have RBCs numbers over $100,000/mm^3$ were cytologically proven malignant effusions. 72.7% of cytologically proven malignant effusions had increased pleural fluid CEA level over 10 ng/ml. 58.2% of cases with pleural CEA over 10 ng/ml had positive results in pleural bistocytology. There was no definable relationships between pleural fluid CEA elevation and RBCs numbers and results of pleural fluid cytology. Conclusion: About half of the cases with malignancy associated pleural effusions were bloody. Histocytologically proven malignant effusions were more common in bloody effusion than non-bloody effusion(63.6% Vs 38.9%). But increased red blood cell numbers was not associated with positivity of pleural histocytology. Pleural fluid CEA elevation(over 10 ng/ml) was not correlated with positive pleural histocytology. But pleural fluid CEA elevation was rare in nonmalignant pleural effusions, and than pleural CEA measurement in uncertain pleural effusions maybe helpful to distinguishes its origin.