• Title/Summary/Keyword: Measurement and assessment

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Assessment of Radiation Dose Due to X-Ray Simple Series Examinations (X-선 단순 Series 촬영 시 피폭 선량 평가)

  • Gang, Eunbo;Hwang, Incheol;Shin, Woonjae
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.81-88
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    • 2014
  • In diagnostic radiology, each part is examined through serial radiography in most cases of general radiography. However, the reality is that, as for diagnostic reference level, measured values have been set up only for AP projection of each part and lateral projection. In the clinical setting, cumulative dose is incurred by serial radiography of patients, and this can make comparison of diagnostic reference level and cumulative exposure dose impossible or can lead to underestimation of diagnostic reference level. In this study, measurement of cumulative dose of serial radiography of each part revealed that when converting entrance surface dose to effective dose in case it is included in the exposure field, cumulative dose measured from a maximum of 38.06% to a minimum of 0.23% of individual dose limitation of the public. Also, when converting entrance surface dose of each part that is not included in the exposure field into effective dose, it measured from a maximum of 5% to a minimum of 0.04% of individual dose limitation of the public. Results of this study show entrance surface dose substantially increases in serial radiography of each part. Therefore, it is deemed that hospitals need to establish diagnostic reference level specifically, and subdivision of radiography orders for patients is also required in order to reduce unnecessary inspections. Moreover, the need of accurate exposure field is emphasized in case of inspection of several parts.

A Study on the Transport-related Impacts of Flexible Working Policy using Activity-Based Model (활동기반모형을 이용한 유연근무제의 교통부문 영향 연구)

  • CHO, Sung-Jin;BELLEMANS, Tom;JOH, Chang-Hyeon;CHOI, Keechoo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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    • v.35 no.6
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    • pp.511-524
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    • 2017
  • This study aims to evaluate the availability of ABM (Active-Based Model), FEATHERS, as a policy evaluation tool. To achieve the goal, scenario analysis on flexible working policy was conducted to measure its impact on activity-travel behavior. As a consequence, there seems no significant change in worker's daily life, other than mitigating traffic congestion due to decreasing commuting travel in the rush hour. The result of VKT (vehicle kilometers traveled) shows an opposite pattern according to given household/individual constraints. The scenario analysis on telecommuting indicates a decreasing trend in both travel frequency and distance because of the diminished number of commuting trips. As the activity space of telecommuters is shifted to a residential area, there are more short-distance trips by using non-motorized transport, which leads to decrease in VKT (using a private vehicle). Thus, the sensitivity of VKT by population groups varies due to transport mode shift (between personal and another mode) and growing non-work trips (using a private mode). This study found few things. First, it is necessary to evaluate the details of policy impact by population groups since it can be varied depending on household/individual characteristics. Second, the case study shows a promising performance of ABM as policy measurement that provides reality in policy evaluation. Third, ABM allows us to do more accurate analysis (i.e. time-series analysis by population groups) of policy assessment than those of FSM (Four-Step Model). Lastly, a further effort in data collection, literature review, and expert survey should be made to enhance the accuracy and confidence of future research.

Development of an On-line Measurement Method for Clean Biofuel Based on Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Chemometrics (근적외선 분광학과 화학계량학에 기반한 청정 바이오연료 실시간 품질 측정 기술 개발)

  • Cho, Hyeong-Su;Ryu, Jun-Hyung;Liu, J. Jay
    • Clean Technology
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.215-224
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    • 2011
  • It is an important issue to develop quality assessing system for biofuel for the purpose of accelerating the mass production of biofuel. It is particularly challenging to conduct testing method in the mass production of bioethanol while meeting quality specifications such as ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials) D4806-10. In order to address this challenge, this paper proposes on-line spectroscopic quality assesment system based on Near Infrared spectrum and Partial Least Squares method in Chemometrics. As a result of testing a number of preprocessing methods and Partial Least Squares, it was found out that Savitzky-Golay method showed the best performance in terms of spectrum correction, noise reduction, and model maintenance. The proposed system allows us to assess multiple quality components continuously using spectroscopic facilities with the cheap cost. Since the value of R2 is more than 0.99, it is possible to replace the laboratory analysis.

Effect of Observed Discharge Data on Regional Flood Frequency Analysis in the Han River Basin (한강유역 관측유출자료가 지역홍수빈도분석 결과에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Nam Won;Lee, Jeong Eun;Lee, Jeongwoo;Jung, Yong
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.48 no.6
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    • pp.511-522
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    • 2015
  • This study assessed the impact of uncertainties in flood data on the results of flood frequency analysis for Han river basin. To meet this aim, this study quantified assessment focused on the index flood and quantile by regional flood frequency analysis using the flood data from 17 water level gauges in Han river basin. We analysed the results categorized by three cases according to the characteristics of the measured data. Firstly, we analyzed the regional flood frequency for the water level gauge in the Pyungchang river basin to investigate the impact of water level data. The results has the error of 0.240 with respect to the mean flood. Secondly, we examined the impact of uncertainty in measurement data generated by the application of rating on the results of regional flood frequency analysis. We have compared the results by applying the rating estimated for each year to the one by the recently estimated rating. The results showed that the mean error has 0.246 in terms of the mean flood. Finally, we have inferred the regional flood frequency analysis results with the regulated flow in the downstream area of dams. The regulated specific discharge in the downstream area of dams controlled by dam operation showed a large difference to the estimated specific discharge in the downstream area of dams by extension of the natural specific discharge in the upstream area using the regionalization method.

An Operations Study on a Home Health Nursing Demonstration Program for the Patients Discharged with Chronic Residual Health Care Problems (추후관리가 필요한 만성질환 퇴원환자 가정간호 시범사업 운영 연구)

  • 홍여신;이은옥;이소우;김매자;홍경자;서문자;이영자;박정호;송미순
    • 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.

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Retrospective Evaluation of Discrepancies between Radiological and Pathological Size of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Masses

  • Tian, Fei;Wu, Jian-Xiong;Rong, Wei-Qi;Wang, Li-Ming;Wu, Fan;Yu, Wei-Bo;An, Song-Lin;Liu, Fa-Qiang;Feng, Li;Liu, Yun-He
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.21
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    • pp.9487-9494
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    • 2014
  • Background: The size of a hepatic neoplasm is critical for staging, prognosis and selection of appropriate treatment. Our study aimed to compare the radiological size of solid hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) masses on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the pathological size in a Chinese population, and to elucidate discrepancies. Materials and Methods: A total of 178 consecutive patients diagnosed with HCC who underwent curative hepatic resection after enhanced MRI between July 2010 and October 2013 were retrospectively identified and analyzed. Pathological data of the whole removed tumors wereassessed and differences between radiological and pathological tumor size were identified. All patients were restaged using a modified Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) staging system postoperatively according to the maximum diameter alteration. The lesions were classified as hypo-staged, iso-staged or hyper-staged for qualitative assessment. In the quantitative analysis, the relative pre and postoperative tumor size contrast ratio ($%{\Delta}size$) was also computed according to size intervals. In addition, the relationship between radiological and pathological tumor diameter variation and histologic grade was analyzed. Results: Pathological examination showed 85 (47.8%) patients were overestimated, 82 (46.1%) patients underestimated, while accurate measurement by MRI was found in 11 (6.2%) patients. Among the total subjects, 14 (7.9%) patients were hypo-staged and 15 (8.4%) were hyper-staged post-operatively. Accuracy of MRI for calculation and characterized staging was related to the lesion size, ranging from 83.1% to 87.4% (<2cm to ${\geq}5cm$, p=0.328) and from 62.5% to 89.1% (cT1 to cT4, p=0.006), respectively. Overall, MRI misjudged pathological size by 6.0 mm (p=0.588 ), and the greatest difference was observed in tumors <2cm (3.6 mm, $%{\Delta}size=16.9%$, p=0.028). No statistically significant difference was observed for moderately differentiated HCC (5.5mm, p=0.781). However, for well differentiated and poorly differentiated cases, radiographic tumor maximum diameter was significantly larger than the pathological maximum diameter by 3.15 mm and underestimated by 4.51 mm, respectively (p=0.034 and 0.020). Conclusions: A preoperative HCC tumor size measurement using MRI can provide relatively acceptable accuracy but may give rise to discrepancy in tumors in a certain size range or histologic grade. In pathological well differentiated subjects, the pathological tumor size was significantly overestimated, but underestimated in poorly differentiated HCC. The difference between radiological and pathological tumor size was greatest for tumors <2 cm. For some HCC patients, the size difference may have implications for the decision of resection, transplantation, ablation, or arterially directed therapy, and should be considered in staging or selecting the appropriate treatment tactics.

The Characteristics of Black Carbon of Seoul (서울의 블랙카본 특성 연구)

  • Park, Jongsung;Song, Inho;Kim, Hyunwoong;Lim, Hyungbae;Park, Seungmyung;Shin, Suna;Shin, Hyejoung;Lee, Sangbo;Kim, Jeongho
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.113-128
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    • 2019
  • The concentration and coating thickness of black carbon (BC) were measured along with fine dust in the fall of 2018, at the Seoul Metropolitan Area Intensive Monitoring Station (SIMS). In fall, the concentration of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ was $23{\pm}12.6{\mu}g/m^3$ and $12{\pm}5.8{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively, lower than that in other seasons. The BC level, measured using an Aethalometer, was $0.73{\pm}0.43{\mu}g/m^3$, while the levels of elemental carbon (EC) and refractory-BC (rBC), measured by semi-continuous carbon analyzer (SOCEC) and single particle soot photometer (SP2), were $0.34{\pm}0.18{\mu}g/m^3$ and $0.32{\pm}0.18{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. As such, the concentration level differed according to the measurement method, but its time-series distribution and diurnal variation showed the same trends. The BC concentration at SIMS was primarily affected by automobiles with higher levels of BC during morning and evening commuting times due to increased traffic congestion. rBC, measured by SP2, had a peak concentration and coating thickness of 84 nm and 43 nm, respectively. Notably, the coating thickness had an inverse relationship with particle size.

An Analysis of Work Stress of Physical Therapist and Reaction (물리치료사의 업무 스트레스 현황과 대응수준 -부산지역을 중심으로-)

  • Dong, Jong Ick;Ryu, Hwang Gun;Bae, Sung-Kwon
    • The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.37-55
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    • 2008
  • This study aims to enhance work efficiency and satisfaction by offering data that make a physical therapist cope with stress coming from the job efficiently by identifying and analyzing the job satisfaction and work stress perceived by a physical therapist, and the level of reaction of a physical therapist. The study distributed survey questionnaires to 300 physical therapists working in medical institutions in Busan via mail and by visit from March 3, 2007 by selecting them simply and randomly from the physical therapist list, and collected the questionnaires by March 20, 2007, 103 respondents were working at 17 general hospitals including a university hospital, 65 respondents at 12 medical centers, and 79 respondents at 39 doctor's offices. The study collected 251 copies, which showed the collection rate of 83.7%, and analyzed 247 copies (82.3%) excluding 4 copies of insincere answers. As a research tool for measuring job satisfaction the study used a tool employed for research into the job satisfaction of physical therapists who work at medical institutions in Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk by Kim Hee-Gwon(1992) and research regarding job satisfaction by Jeong Jeong-Hee(2004) as well as research regarding the factors of job satisfaction by Flippo(1980) & Seberhagen(1970) after adjusting the research tools to the purpose of the study. Also for questions about work stress, the study employed nurses' job stress measurement tool developed by Kim Mae-Ja and em Mi-Ok(1984) by modifying the tool to the purpose of the study, and for a measurement tool for reaction to stress, the study used a tool employed for research into reaction to stress of nurses at general hospitals by Choi Eun-Deok(2005) without modification. For data analysis, the study used the SPSS12.0 as a statistical method, and then used t-test or ANOVA for verifying actual numbers, percentile, average :score, standard deviation, rank, and difference. Also, the study conducted which is a post-test method for variables that show a significant difference at the level of p<.05 level after the analysis. The findings include the following. 1) The respondents' job satisfaction score was 3.21 points on the average (out of 5 full points). The peer relationship ranked the highest, posting 4.02 points on the average, and the job satisfaction with rewards was proven the lowest, posting 2.51 points. For the job satisfaction level by characteristics, there were significant differences (p<.05) in gender, hospital type, weekly working hours, monthly working days, number of patients per day, department in charge of therapy, and number of peers, and there was no significant difference in characteristics other than that. 2) The respondents' work stress score was 2.72 points (out of 5 full points) on the average. The respondents were shown to be under the highest stress when they suffered from excessive workload, posting 3.49 points on the average, and they were shown to be under the least stress when they had a conflict with peers at another department, recording 1.90 points on the average. for the job stress level by the characteristics of job, there was a significant difference in the reflection of job assessment(p<.05). 3) 1n respondents' reaction to stress, most of them were shown to make efforts in coping with stress, posting 2.80 points (out of 5 full points). For their experience of being wider stress, they answered that 'they felt depressed (2.85 points)" for their experience of coping with stress, they answered that 'they were indifferent to it or thought about something else' (2.62 points). Also, for their efforts in coping with stress, they answered that 'they were motivated to remove their strain by taking leave, playing, or using their preferences' (3.52 points), which ranked higher. For the level of reaction to stress by characteristics, there were significant differences by age, gender, marital status, total service years as a physical therapist, monthly working days, and department in charge of therapy(p<.05). It is necessary to offer correct information by conducting an in-depth analysis of the stressful situations of physical therapists who exert efforts in rehabilitating patients at hospitals by factor, and seeking management plans based on the research results. Also, it is necessary to develop a program for coping with stress efficiently for removing stress and to conduct research into the understanding and cooperation of administrators and persons in charge of physical therapists for reducing physical therapists' stress at hospitals.

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Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Stormwater Runoffs from Industrial Region Discharged into Shihwa Lake (시화호 산업지역 강우유출수 내 중금속 유출특성 및 위해성 평가)

  • Ra, Kongtae;Kim, Joung-Keun;Lee, Jung-Moo;Lee, Seung-Yong;Kim, Eun-Soo;Kim, Kyung-Tae
    • 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.

Comparative Study on Nutrient Intakes, Blood Pressure and Serum Lipid Profile of Korean Adult Men According to Smoking Status (성인 남자의 흡연상태에 따른 영양섭취, 혈압, 혈액 성상 및 지질패턴 비교연구)

  • Choi, Mi-Kyeong;Cho, Hye-Kyung;Sung, Chung-Ja
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.164-170
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    • 2006
  • The purpose of this study was to compare the nutrient intakes, blood pressure, and biochemical values and lipid profile in blood according to smoking status. Subjects were recruited from Korean adult men, which included non-smoker (n=47), smoker (n=58), and ex- smoker (n=44) . Anthropometrical measurement, blood pressure measurement, dietary intake assessment using 24-hour recall method, and blood collection and analysis were conducted. The average age, height, weight, and BMI of the subject were 54.7 years, 165.8 cm, 67.3 kg, and $24.5\;kg/m^2 $, respectively. There was no significant difference in general characteristics among three groups. The mean daily intakes of energy and protein were 1740.9 kcal and 69.6 g. The daily folate intake of the smoker was significantly lower than that of the non- smoker or ex-smoker. However, cholesterol intake of the smoker was significantly higher than two groups. The daily total food intake was 1250.0 g for non-smoker, 1180.1 g for smoker, and 1237.5 g for ex-smoker. The mushrooms intake in the smoker was significantly lower than that in the ex - smoker. However, eggs intake of the smoker was significantly higher than two groups. The RBC count and serum GOT/GPT of the subjects were $4598.2\times1000/mm^3$ and 27.3/27.3 U/L. The WBC count, hematocrit and hemoglobin of the smoker were significantly higher than those of the non-smoker and ex-smoker. Blood pressure and serum lipids of the subjects were 128.3/75.5 mmHg for SBP/DBP, 180.2 mg/dL for total cholesterol, 160.8 mg/dL for triglyceride, 41.5 mg/dL for HDL-cholesterol, 106.5 mg/dL for LDL-cholesterol, and 3.5 for atherogenic index. Especially serum triglyceride of smoker was significantly higher than that of non-smoker. The above results revealed that some nutrient intakes, such as folate and cholesterol, and hematological findings, and serum triglyceride of the smoker were different from non-smoker. However, these differences were recovered to non-smoking status by prohibition of smoking. Therefore, in order to stop smoking, the effect of smoking on nutritional and health status should be informed to smoker and more systematic study should be conducted.